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A  GUIDE  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  THE 
CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO.  ILLINOIS 


Bgents 
THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK 

THE  CUNNINGHAM,  CURTISS  &  WELCH  COMPANY 

LOS  ANGELES 

THE  CAMBRIDGE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

LONDON  AND  EDINBURGH 

THE  MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA 

TOKYO,  OSAKA,  KYOTO,  FCKUOKA,  SENDAI 

THE  MISSION  BOOK  COMPANY 

SHANGHAI 

KARL  W.  HIERSEMANN 

LEIPZIG 


1  1916 


A  GUIDE 

TO  THE   STUDY  OF  THE 

CHRISTIAN   RELIGION 


By 

William  Herbert  Perry  Faunce,  Shailer  Mathews,  J.  M.  Powis 
Smith,  Ernest  DeWitt  Burton,  Edgar  Johnson  Goodspeed, 
Shirley  Jackson  Case,  Francis  Albert  Christie,  George  Cross, 
Errett  Gates,  Gerald  Birney  Smith,  Theodore  Gerald  Soares, 
Charles    Richmond    Henderson,    and    George    Burman    Foster 

y 

Edited  by  Gerald  Birney  Smith 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


Copyright  1916  By 
The  University  of  Chicago 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Published  November  1916 


Composed  and  Printed  By 

The  University  of  Chicagro  Press 

Chicago,  Illinois.  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

That  Christianity  is  today  passing  through  one  of  the 
most  significant  transformations  in  its  history  is  a  fact  appar- 
ent on  every  hand.  The  present  generation  has  come  into 
full  consciousness  of  the  new  world  which  has  arisen  as  a 
result  of  the  discoveries  and  inventions  of  the  past  century 
or  more.  New  social  and  industrial  conditions,  new  acquaint- 
ance with  the  non- Christian  world  of  today,  a  more  thorough- 
going knowledge  of  the  vast  stretches  of  human  history,  and 
a  new  science  with  its  promise  of  a  hitherto  undreamed-of 
mastery  of  the  forces  of  the  universe,  have  led  to  a  new 
appreciation  of  the  task  of  the  Christian  church. 

Thus  the  divinity  school  today  is  attempting  to  organize 
the  education  of  ministers  of  the  gospel  and  of  religious 
teachers  and  missionaries  with  reference  to  many  situations 
and  problems  which  formerly  did  not  exist.  The  history  of 
Christianity  can  no  longer  be  studied  in  isolation  from  the 
total  history  of  which  it  is  a  part.  The  study  of  the  Bible 
must  be  undertaken  with  a  full  understanding  of  all  that  is 
involved  in  the  processes  of  historical  criticism.  Systematic 
theology  must  consider  religious  behefs  in  relation  to  the 
modern  scientific  and  philosophical  ideals  which  are  regnant. 
The  department  of  practical  theology  must  deal  with  the 
bewildering  needs  occasioned  by  the  shifting  habits  of  people 
in  modem  industrial  and  spiritual  Hfe.  An  entirely  new 
realm  of  theological  training  has  been  organized  in  order  to 
prepare  men  to  understand  the  social  problems  which  are  so 
intimately  related  to  the  religious  Hfe. 

Aside  from  discussions  of  the  "higher  criticism"  there 
has  been  almost  no  literature  from  which  one  could  learn  how 
a  modern  divinity  school  is  attempting  to  meet  the  demands 


vi  PREFACE 

of  our  age.  There  has  been  no  work  in  English  on  theological 
encyclopedia  for  twenty  years.  Such  treatises  as  Crooks 
and  Hunt,  Theological  Encyclopaedia  and  Methodology  (New 
York:  Phillips  and  Hunt,  1884);  Cave,  Introduction  to  The- 
ology and  Its  Literature  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1886,  2d  ed., 
1896);  and  Schaff,  Theological  Propaedeutic  (New  York: 
Scribner,  1893),  were  all  excellent  works  in  their  day.  But 
because  some  of  the  most  important  phases  of  modern  theo- 
logical education  have  been  organized  since  these  appeared 
they  cannot  furnish  the  information  needed  here,  nor  can  they 
indicate  the  literature  which  has  appeared  during  the  past 
twenty  years.  The  warm  welcome  which  was  accorded  to 
Wernle's  Einfuhrung  in  das  theologische  Studium  (Tubingen: 
Mohr,  1908,  2d  ed.,  191 1)  suggested  to  the  editor  the  desira- 
bility of  a  volume  in  English  which  should  deal  with  the 
present  situation  in  theological  education. 

It  is  much  more  difficult  today  to  prepare  an  introduction 
to  the  study  of  theology  than  it  was  a  generation  ago.  For- 
merly it  was  possible  for  one  broadminded  scholar  to  cover 
the  entire  field  with  reasonable  thoroughness.  But  today 
specialization  has  advanced  so  far  that  no  one  man  is  compe- 
tent to  deal  with  all  the  branches  of  learning  tributary  to  a 
sound  theological  education.  This  is  perhaps  the  main  reason 
why  no  one  has  recently  attempted  to  prepare  any  such 
survey. 

Again,  some  phases  of  theological  scholarship  have  lately 
been  passing  through  a  transition  period.  During  much  of 
the  past  quarter-century  men  have  been  conscious  of  the 
fact  that  old  methods  and  ideals  must  be  modified,  but  they 
have  not  always  been  sure  just  where  the  changes  would  lead. 
It  is  only  within  the  past  decade  that  the  full  implications  of 
the  historical  method  have  begun  to  be  realized  with  clearness. 
Until  scholars  came  to  feel  at  home  in  the  use  of  this  method 
they  were  not  in  a  position  to  formulate  constructive  prin- 
ciples of  theological  study  based  on  it. 


PREFACE  vil 

The  present  volume  has  been  prepared  in  recognition  of 
the  situation  above  indicated.  In  order  to  do  justice  to  the 
specialized  character  of  scholarship,  a  group  of  men  has  been 
asked  to  co-operate,  each  contributing  an  exposition  of  the 
problems  and  the  methods  of  study  in  the  field  in  which  he 
himself  is  competent  to  speak. 

There  has,  of  course,  been  no  attempt  to  secure  absolute 
uniformity  of  views.  The  only  common  presuppositions  of 
the  various  portions  are  the  acceptance  of  the  historical 
method  and  the  beHef  that  the  interpretation  of  Christianity 
must  be  in  accord  with  the  rightful  tests  of  scientific  truth- 
fulness and  actual  vitality  in  the  modern  world.  If  certain 
diversities  of  opinion  appear,  the  volume  will  only  reflect 
the  spirit  of  freedom  which  prevails  in  theological  scholarship 
today  as  well  as  in  other  fields  of  research.  It  is  a  hopeful 
sign,  however,  that  the  historical  method,  with  all  its  freedom, 
yet  induces  a  typical  attitude  and  spirit,  so  that  a  course  of 
study  dominated  by  this  point  of  view  will  attain  a  consistency 
which  may  form  the  basis  for  positive  convictions  concerning 
Christianity  and  for  fruitful  constructive  work  in  the  church 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

This  volume  is  intended  to  be  a  guide  to  the  study  of  the 
Christian  rehgion  for  Protestants.  It  does  not  attempt  to 
take  the  place  of  actual  study  or  to  furnish  a  brief  compendium 
of  information.  It  is  prepared  primarily  to  aid  students  to 
understand  the  meaning  of  the  various  aspects  of  education  for 
the  Christian  ministry.  But  it  will  be  perhaps  of  even  greater 
value  to  pastors  who  wish  to  keep  in  sympathetic  touch  with 
the  latest  scholarship,  but  who  find  it  difficult  to  obtain  in 
convenient  form  the  requisite  information.  Brief  bibliog- 
raphies are  appended  to  each  section,  noting  especially 
valuable  works  as  an  aid  to  those  who  wish  to  undertake  an 
intelUgent  study  of  any  particular  topic.  They  are  not  in- 
tended to  be  exhaustive,  but  merely  to  start  the  student  or 
interested  reader  on  his  quest. 


viii  PREFACE 

It  is  the  hope  of  the  editor  and  of  the  contributors  that 
the  volume  may  help  toward  the  understanding  of  the  fruitful 
and  inspiring  work  which  is  being  done  in  the  realm  of  theo- 
logical scholarship  today,  and  may  stimulate  those  who  are 
interested  in  the  progress  of  theological  education  and  in  the 
thorough  preparation  of  ministers  of  the  gospel  to  a  cordial 
co-operation  in  the  great  task  before  us. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Preparation  in  College  for  the  Study  of  Theology         i 

By  William  Herbert  Perry  Faunce,  President  of  Brown 
University 

II.  The  Historical  Study  of  Religion 19 

By  Shailer  Mathews,  Professor  of  Historical  and  Comparative 
Theology  and  Dean  of  the  Divinity  School,  University  of 
Chicago 

III.  The  Study  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  Religion  of 
Israel 81 

By  J.  M.  Powis  Smith,  Professor  of  Old  Testament  Language  and 
Literature,  University  of  Chicago 

IV.  The  Study  of  the  New  Testament 163 

By  Ernest  DeWitt  Burton,  Professor  and  Head  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  New  Testament  Literature  and  Interpretation, 
University  of  Chicago,  and  Edgar  Johnson  Goodspeed, 
Professor  of  Biblical  and  Patristic  Greek,  University  of 
Chicago 

V.  The  Study  of  Early  Christianity 239 

By  Shirley  Jackson  Case,  Professor  of  New  Testament  Inter- 
pretation, University  of  Chicago 

VI.  The   Development   and   Meaning    of   the    Catholic 

Church 327 

By  Francis  Albert  Christie,  Professor  of  Church  History, 
Meadville  Theological  Seminary 

VII.  The  Protestant  Reformation 357 

By  George  Cross,  Professor  of  Systematic  Theology,  Rochester 
Theological  Seminary 

VIII.  The  Development  of  Modern  Christianity      .  .     429 

By  Errett  Gates,  Assistant  Professor  of  Church  History  in  the 
Disciples'  Divinity  House,  Unive  rsity  of  Chicago 

ix 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

IX.  Systematic  Theology  and  Christian  Ethics      ...     483 
By  Gerald  Birney  Smith,  Professor  of  Christian  Theology, 
University  of  Chicago 

X.  Practical  Theology 579 

By  Theodore  Gerald  Soares,  Professor  of  Homiletics  and 
Religious  Education  and  Head  of  the  Department  of  Practical 
Theology,  University  of  Chicago 

XI.  Christianity  and  Social  Problems 677 

By  the  Late  Ch.\rles  Richmond  Henderson,  Professor  of 
Practical  Sociology,  University'  of  Chicago 

XII.  The  Contribution  of  Critical  Scholarship  to  Minis- 
terial Efficiency 729 

By  George  Burman  Foster,  Professor  of  the  Philosophy  of 
Religion,  University  of  Chicago 


I.  PREPARATION  IN  COLLEGE  FOR  THE  STUDY 
OF  THEOLOGY 

By  WILLIAM  HERBERT  PERRY  FAUNCE 
President  of  Brown  University 


ANALYSIS 

PAGES 

1.  The  Relation  of  the  College  to  Theological  Education. — What 
should  the  intending  minister  study? — Languages. — Science. — 
History. — Psychology. — Social  sciences. — Philosophy  .      .  3-1 2 

2.  Unofficial  Aspects  of  College  Life. — The  dangers  of  social 
dissipation. — ^Acquaintance  with  religious  leaders. — Giving  religion  an 
opportunity  to  be  seen  at  its  best. — The  practical  expression  of 
religious  activity. — The  religious  responsibility  of  college  teachers        12-18 


I.    PREPARATION  IN  COLLEGE  FOR  THE  STUDY 
OF  THEOLOGY 

The  value  of  any  study  depends  chiefly,  not  on  its  intrinsic 
content,  but  on  the  content  of  the  student's  mind.  What  we 
find  in  a  subject  depends  on  what  we  bring  to  it.  The  horse 
and  his  rider  look  on  the  same  landscape,  but  they  do  not  see 
the  same  things. 

Several  men  may  enter  on  a  course  of  theological  study 
in  the  same  institution  at  the  same  time.  One  brings  a  philo- 
sophic mind,  trained  to  the  search  for  truth,  alert  to  all 
those  subtle  distinctions  in  thought  that  create  far-reaching 
differences  in  life.  Another  man  brings  only  a  desire  to  get 
"sermon  outlines"  and  secure  a  pulpit.  A  third  brings  a 
sociological  training,  and  finds — or  rather  seeks — in  every 
creedal  formula  primarily  a  means  of  social  uplift.  A  fourth 
man  brings  an  intellect  stiffened  by  disuse,  and  finds  in 
theology  a  tedious  discussion  of  things  that  do  not  count. 
The  theological  teacher  faces  an  almost  impossible  task  when 
he  is  asked  to  deal  with  minds  undeveloped,  or  closed  by 
prejudice,  or  unfired  with  any  real  passion  for  truth.  A 
prepared  student  will  receive  and  assimilate  more  in  a  single 
year  than  a  crude  mind  can  admit  in  many  years. 

The  preparation  for  theological  study  may  be  either 
indirect  and  unconscious  or  direct  and  intentional.  Indirect 
preparation  includes  all  that  we  mean  by  the  development  of 
personality,  mental  growth,  spiritual  experience.  All  that 
goes  to  make  a  deeper,  richer  inner  life  inevitably  makes  a 
more  successful  student  of  theology.  This  unconscious 
preparation  is  of  value  in  any  calling,  but  especially  in  one 
where  all  that  a  man  achieves  depends  absolutely  on  what 
he  is.     Augustine  found  inspiration  and  enlargement  in  the 

3 


4  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

writings  of  Cicero;  Wesley  was  equipped  for  religious  leader- 
ship by  the  culture  and  the  friendships  of  Oxford;  Henry 
Drummond's  training  came  through  the  scientific  laboratory. 
Men  fulfil  themselves  in  many  ways.  Whatever  brings  to 
the  student  increase  of  human  sympathy,  insight,  mental 
poise,  fearlessness,  power  to  examine  candidly  and  to  believe 
whole-heartedly,  whatever  broadens  and  deepens  personality, 
is  a  true  "preparatory  school"  for  religious  leadership. 
Such  preparation  may  come  through  cathedral  or  camp  meet- 
ing, through  library  or  observatory,  through  the  sick-room, 
as  witness  Thomas  Chalmers  and  Frederick  Robertson,  or 
through  residence  on  the  frontiers  of  civilization,  as  witness 
Jonathan  Edwards  in  the  Connecticut  Valley  and  Moffat  in 
South  Africa.  A  personality  widened  by  habitual  observa- 
tion and  deepened  by  poignant  experience  is  no  longer  a  "tin 
dipper  to  be  filled  in  a  classroom,"  but  is  already  in  some 
measure  prepared  for  the  great  question:  How  shall  we 
think  of  God  ? 

THE  RELATION  OF  THE  COLLEGE  TO  THEOLOGICAL  EDUCATION 

But  here  we  have  to  do  with  that  direct  and  intentional 
preparation  which  today  is  obtained  through  the  college. 
Once  the  American  college  was  organized  chiefly  for  the 
training  of  ministers,  and  no  theological  seminary  existed  in 
this  country.  Later  a  "theological  course"  was  organized  in 
some  colleges.  Still  later  the  theological  seminaries  were 
often  founded  remote  from  any  college  or  university  and 
marked  by  quite  a  different  spirit.  Theological  education, 
like  medical  education,  suffered  a  real  loss  through  this  entire 
segregation  of  its  students,  and  studies  from  the  broader  uni- 
versity world.  Now  the  seminary  is  becoming  part  of  the 
university,  either  by  actual  incorporation  in  it,  as  a  "divinity 
school"  or  "school  of  religion,"  or  through  close  affiliation  and 
co-operation.  But  there  must  be  a  clear  sequence  of  studies 
as  the  student  passes  from  his  college  into  his  professional 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  THE  STUDY  OF  THEOLOGY         5 

school.  If  the  student  in  college  tries  to  anticipate  his 
theological  studies  and  take  strictly  professional  courses,  then 
in  the  divinity  school  he  will  have  to  turn  about  and  seek  the 
fundamental  and  liberal  courses  which  he  should  have  taken 
in  college.  Thus  he  puts  the  cart  before  the  horse.  He 
turns  his  college  into  a  poor  theological  school  and  his  theo- 
logical school  into  a  very  superficial  college. 

The  preparation  offered  in  college  is  given  in  two  ways: 
through  the  curriculum  of  the  college  and  through  its  atmos- 
phere and  ideals.  Let  us  first  consider  the  values  to  be 
found  in  the  college  curriculum. 

What  should  the  intending  minister  study  in  college? — 
What  studies  should  the  prospective  theological  student 
pursue  in  college  or  in  the  university  ?  What  may  he  expect 
to  derive  from  those  four  years  ?  Out  of  the  vast  and  varied 
menu  offered  by  the  modern  university — from  Egyptology 
to  calculus,  from  ''chipping  and  filing"  to  the  Divine  Comedy — 
what  should  he  select  as  of  most  importance  for  his  future 
career  ?  Any  attempt  at  a  bare  list  of  studies  would  plunge 
us  into  difficulties.  Some  of  the  courses  we  might  include  are 
not  given  in  all  colleges.  Many  are  open  to  debate.  Any 
mere  list  would  evoke  instant  dissent.  But  there  are  some 
clear  principles  of  choice.  There  are  certain  values  which  a 
student  must  not  miss  if  his  college  course  is  to  be  a  real 
success.  What  are  they  ?  What  should  any  student  expect 
to  acquire  in  the  modern  college  ? 

Languages. — The  student  must  acquire  some  of  the 
indispensable  tools  of  knowledge.  He  must  master  his 
own  mother-tongue  and  secure  a  serviceable  knowledge  of 
some  other  tongues  as  well.  He  must  steep  himself  in  the 
work  of  the  best  English  writers  until  he,  too,  learns  to  write. 
He  must  study  his  own  vernacular,  its  marvelous  resources, 
its  wealth  of  expression,  its  flexibility  and  force,  its  power  to 
appeal  and  illuminate  and  persuade,  until  he  makes  the 
language  a  part  of  himself.     He  must  find  out  whether  he  is 


6  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

able  to  write  an  important  telegram  in  ten  words,  or  a  com- 
plete address  in  as  few  words  as  Lincoln  used  at  Gettysburg. 
One  of  the  greatest  joys  that  can  come  to  any  student  is  the 
joy  of  self-expression  in  English  that  cannot  be  misunderstood. 
It  is  like  the  joy  of  the  hunter  when  his  arrow  or  his  bullet 
finds  the  mark.  Half  the  theological  disputes  of  the  world 
come  from  inability  to  state  what  we  mean,  or  to  understand 
what  others  have  stated.  Definition  is  the  first  essential  in 
debate,  and  definition  means  the  precise  expression  of  exact 
thought.  Ability  to  read,  even  in  translation,  an  ancient 
document,  like  the  Apostles'  Creed,  or  the  prophecy  of  Amos, 
and  find  out  what  it  meant  to  the  men  who  first  read  it,  is  one 
of  the  first  qualifications  of  a  religious  teacher.  Slovenly, 
hazy  language  constantly  befogs  the  mind  and  hides  the  truth 
or  repels  men  from  it.  "Let  your  yea  be  yea  and  your  nay, 
nay,"  is  the  basis  of  all  good  writing.  A  good  style  is  as 
a  pane  of  clear  glass,  itself  invisible,  revealing  all  things  as 
they  are. 

Latin  and  Greek  are  indispensable  to  the  theological 
student.  Latin  still  constitutes  the  best-known  means  of 
acquiring  the  linguistic  sense,  the  power  to  analyze  thought 
and  to  discriminate  and  compare  ideas,  while  Greek,  as  the 
language  of  the  New  Testament,  is  a  sine  qua  non.  Com- 
mentaries can  give  us  the  meaning  of  a  passage,  but  not  the 
sense  of  reality  and  vitality  that  exhales  from  the  original. 
Most  universities  now  offer  courses  in  beginners'  Greek  for 
those  students  who  could  not,  or  did  not,  begin  that  study  in 
the  high  school.  It  is  quite  possible  in  three  or  four  years 
of  the  study  of  Greek  to  get  beyond  habitual  use  of  com- 
mentaries on  the  New  Testament  and  to  be  able  to  form  an 
independent  judgment.  Surely  three  hours  a  week  for  three 
years  is  a  small  price  to  pay  for  such  independence.  But 
these  arguments  apply  with  far  less  force  to  the  study  of 
Hebrew,  both  because  the  Old  Testament  is  a  less  primary 
source  of  Christian  ideals  and  because  of  the  far  greater 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  THE  STUDY  OF  THEOLOGY         7 

difficulty  of  reaching  independent  conclusions  in  Semitic 
scholarship.  If  Hebrew  is  to  be  studied  at  all,  it  should  not 
be  allowed  to  crowd  out  the  fundamental  liberal  studies  of  the 
four  college  years. 

French  and  German  are  both  of  value  to  the  man  who 
would  be  a  workman  that  needs  not  to  be  ashamed.  While 
a  working  pastor  may  do  without  them,  the  theological 
scholar  must  have  a  reading  knowledge  of  both  tongues — 
with  the  emphasis  upon  the  German.  The  pioneers  of 
theological  thought  are  still  European,  and  religious  leaders 
in  America  cannot  wait  for  the  possible  translation  of  all 
important  books.  Valuable  articles  in  European  periodicals 
are  often  not  translated  at  all.  Latin  and  Greek,  French  and 
German — a.  reasonable  working  knowledge  of  these  four 
tongues,  in  addition  to  the  mastery  of  English,  every  theo- 
logical student  should  carry  away  from  his  college.  And 
such  knowledge  means  more  than  skill  in  grammatical  forms ; 
it  means  literary  appreciation,  interpretation,  insight. 

Science. — A  second  gift  of  the  college  to  the  student 
should  be  an  understanding  of  what  the  modern  world  means 
by  scientific  method.  This  is  something  quite  different  from 
acquaintance  with  specific  sciences.  The  student  cannot 
become  at  once  astronomer,  geologist,  chemist,  and  botanist. 
But  a  single  thorough  course  in  any  one  of  those  sciences  may 
furnish  him  the  key  to  all  the  rest.  The  method  by  which 
men  of  science  approach  all  problems,  the  intellectual  process 
by  which  they  discover  truth,  can  and  must  be  made  thor- 
oughly famihar  to  any  man  who  would  teach  the  modern 
world.  And  the  method  cannot  be  learned  from  books;  it 
can  be  learned  only  in  the  laboratory,  through  actual  experi- 
ment and  research  in  the  world  of  material  facts  and  laws. 
The  Yale  professor  of  the  last  generation  who  before  perform- 
ing an  experiment  in  physics  would  often  say,  ''Now,  gentle- 
men, we  are  going  to  ask  God  a  question,"  indicated  the 
only  real  way  of  asking  about  physical  truth.     If  prayer  is 


8  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

experiment,  nonfe  the  less  is  experiment  prayer — ^the  prayer  of 
the  scientific  man  that  avails  much.  Whether  the  student  shall 
study  one  science  or  several  sciences  depends  on  his  time  and 
taste.  Out  of  a  single  course  he  may  acquire  a  method  of  in- 
vestigation which  will  mold  his  entire  life.  He  should,  how- 
ever, remember  the  distinction  between  the  physical  or  exact 
sciences,  like  physics  and  astronomy,  largely  mathematical, 
and  the  natural  sciences,  like  biology  and  botany,  which  deal 
with  the  form  and  structure  and  growth  of  living  organisms. 
For  the  future  preacher,  whose  message  is  to  be  "life  more 
abundantly,"  biology,  the  study  of  the  forms  and  methods  of 
life,  is  supremely  important. 

History. — Another  gain  to  be  expected  from  a  college 
course  is  what  we  may  call  the  historical  approach.  This  is 
vital  in  all  modern  thinking.  Our  fathers  thought  chiefly 
in  static  terms.  Their  method  was  deductive  and  dogmatic. 
In  proving  the  existence  of  God  they  used  the  "  cosmological 
argument"  or  the  "ontological  argument,"  rather  than  the 
argument  from  experience  as  found  in  the  story  of  humanity. 
They  proved  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible  from  the  probability 
that  a  good  God  would  reveal  himself,  or  from  the  necessity  for 
such  a  revelation,  seldom  asking  whether  the  Bible  had 
actually  been  an  inspiring  power  in  the  life  of  humanity. 
But  now  we  have  come  to  see  that  we  never  understand 
anything  until  we  know  how  it  came  to  be.  The  history  of  a 
thing  is  the  thing.  A  new  sense  of  time  has  dawned  upon 
men  since  Darwin  lived,  as  a  new  sense  of  space  came  to  men 
through  Copernicus.  To  trace  the  growth  of  an  institution 
like  the  English  Parliament,  or  a  composite  book  like  the  Book 
of  Psalms,  or  an  idea  like  the  idea  of  sacrifice,  is  the  only 
possible  way  to  get  at  its  meaning.  The  concept  of  evolution 
— now  accepted  by  nearly  every  teacher  in  northern  colleges 
and  denounced  by  nearly  every  evangehst — has  come  to  mean, 
not  a  theory  or  dogma,  but  a  point  of  view,  a  mode  of  con- 
ceiving the  world.     We  see  the  world  no  longer  as  a  fact 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  THE  STUDY  OF  THEOLOGY         9 

established  by  fiat,  but  as  a  process,  an  unfolding  of  the 
indwelling  spirit.  We  ask  of  the  Bible,  How  was  it  put 
together  ?  of  the  church.  What  have  been  its  stages  of  develop- 
ment ?  of  the  most  sacred  ceremonies.  What  was  their  original 
form  and  meaning?  of  the  Book  of  Revelation,  What  did  it 
mean  to  men  of  its  own  time?  This  historical  approach  is 
characteristic  of  all  intellectual  effort  today.  It  traces  effects 
to  their  causes,  and  thus  reconciles  our  divergences  and 
softens  our  asperities.  Instead  of  fighting  our  opponent,  we 
are  occupied  in  explaining  how  he  came  to  be.  The  spirit  of 
tolerance  and  comprehension  in  the  modern  world  is  largely 
the  result  of  the  historical  approach  to  every  vital  problem. 

Psychology. — A  fourth  gift  of  the  college  should  be 
what  we  might  call  the  psychological  approach.  The  study 
of  all  human  institutions  and  products  leads  us  back  to  the 
study  of  man  himself.  What  is  behind  the  eye  is  more 
wonderful  than  anything  in  front  of  it.  We  cannot  under- 
stand science,  art,  literature,  or  religion  except  as  we 
understand  the  human  mind — how  it  works,  how  it  grows,  how 
it  misleads  us,  how  it  finds  and  rests  in  the  truth.  "He 
knew  what  was  in  man"— that  was  the  foundation  of  all  He 
did  for  man.  "A  man  that  told  me  all  things  that  ever  I 
did" — such  was  the  naive  description  of  Jesus  by  a  stranger. 
The  study  of  psychology  has  transformed  modern  education. 
Its  theories  regarding  memory,  imagination,  attention,  and 
habit  lie  at  the  basis  of  our  public-school  methods.  The 
study  of  psychology  has  given  new  meaning  to  the  "varieties 
of  religious  experience"  and  has  shown  us  that  the  "conver- 
sions" which  once  were  deemed  fantastic  or  mythical  are 
actual  and  normal  changes  in  the  soul.  Psychology  helps 
us  to  understand  revivals,  true  and  false,  to  explain  recent 
growths,  like  Christian  Science,  and  the  existence  of  all  the 
various  denominations.  It  has  important  contributions  yet 
to  be  made  to  church  services,  missionary  methods,  and  social 
reform.     No  student  can  afford  to  spend  four  years  in  college 


lO  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

without  some  training  in  the  methods  of  psychology.  Through 
those  methods  he  will  find  most  helpful  approach  to  every 
present  problem  of  thought  or  action. 

Social  sciences. — Such  study  easily  leads  into  an  appre- 
ciation of  the  "social  consciousness."  So  far  as  theology  is 
still  purely  individualistic  it  is  an  aHen  in  the  world,  for  the 
world  has  become — in  the  philosophical  sense — -socialistic. 
''When  ye  pray,  say,  'Our',''  is  ancient  teaching,  but  the  world 
has  only  recently  begun  to  say  "our"  in  philanthropy,  in 
municipal  government,  in  economic  theory,  in  international 
intercourse.  A  purely  individualistic  theology  cannot  cope 
with  the  needs  of  a  socialized  world.  "What  shall  I  do 
to  be  saved?"  is  a  question  now  being  asked,  not  only  by 
single  persons,  but  by  corporations  threatened  with  dissolu- 
tion, by  villages  drained  of  their  young  life,  by  cities  con- 
victed of  anti-social  sins,  by  nations  that  have  lost  their 
idealism  and  so  their  moral  leadership. 

Yet  it  is  extraordinary  how  many  of  the  most  famous  books 
of  devotion  lack  the  social  consciousness.  Often  the  acute 
consciousness  of  God  has  absorbed  all  consciousness  of  any 
relation  to  the  struggling  world.  Bunyan's  Pilgrim  thrusts  his 
fingers  into  his  ears,  that  even  the  cry  of  wife  and  children 
may  not  hinder  his  passion  to  escape.  Thomas  a  Kempis' 
Imitation  of  Christ  is  wholly  unconscious  of  any  duty  to  change 
human  conditions  anywhere.  "  Other- worldliness "  marks 
the  older  hymnology,  majestic  in  its  perception  of  the  divine 
sovereignty,  but  conceiving  our  chief  human  duty  as  "a  never- 
dying  soul  to  save  and  fit  it  for  the  sky."  But  the  modern 
college  thinks  of  religion  in  terms  of  action.  The  average 
student  makes  feeble  response  to  the  prudential  motive, 
reserving  his  deepest  enthusiasm  for  altruistic  effort.  He 
thinks  of  the  college,  not  as  a  means  of  separation  from  the 
common  herd,  but  as  a  means  of  service  to  his  generation. 
No  man  can  be  a  competent  religious  teacher  today  unless 
he  is  shot  through  by  that  corporate  consciousness,  that  sense 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  THE  STUDY  OF  THEOLOGY       ii 

of  social  responsibility,  which  marks  our  time.  Hence  the 
studies  listed  under  social  and  political  science,  economics, 
sociology,  international  law,  etc.,  are  of  much  importance 
for  any  man  who  aspires  to  be  a  religious  guide. 

Philosophy. — Not  the  least  of  the  gifts  of  the  college  is 
what  we  may  call  orientation  in  philosophy.  No  one  can 
hope  to  become  a  master  of  metaphysics  while  in  college.  But 
he  may,  working  under  the  guidance  of  an  experienced 
teacher,  become  acquainted  with  the  chief  theories  regarding 
the  origin  and  mode  and  meaning  of  the  universe  and  man's 
place  in  it.  He  can  at  least  acquire  a  "set  of  pigeonholes" 
to  which  he  can  refer  all  the  vagrant  theories  of  our  own  time. 
He  can  learn  the  difference  between  materialism  and 
ideaUsm,  between  nominahst  and  realist,  between  Stoic 
and  Epicurean,  between  the  Kantian  and  the  Hegelian. 
Then,  confronted  with  some  new  theory  or  fad  or  heresy 
sweeping  over  the  land,  he  can  say:  "I  know  where  that 
idea  emerged  centuries  ago,  and  I  understand  its  implications 
and  sure  results."  Thus,  unperplexed  and  unterrified,  he 
can  deal  with  the  new  because  he  is  familiar  with  the  old.  To 
perceive  the  philosophic  origin  and  outcome  of  current 
religious  theory  is  an  enormous  aid  to  a  religious  leader. 

Are  we  asking  too  much  when  we  expect  these  great  gifts 
from  the  college  of  our  time?  Let  us  remember  that  these 
are  gifts  of  quality  of  spirit,  not  quantity  of  information. 
The  thing  we  really  ask  of  the  college  is  simply  a  point  of 
view  and  a  standard  of  judgment.  That  standard  is  not  to  be 
gained  by  absorbing  quantities  of  fact;  nor  is  it  to  be  gained, 
on  the  other  hand,  simply  by  fervid  piety.  It  is  sometimes 
said  that  the  primary  object  of  the  college  is  character. 
But  that  is  the  object  also  of  the  family  and  the  church  and  the 
state.  All  human  institutions,  of  course,  aim  at  character. 
The  college  differs  from  the  other  institutions  in  that  it  aims 
at  character  through  intellectual  interests  and  disciplines,  at 
character  achieved,  not  through  rules,  not  through  exhortation, 


12  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

not  through  worship,  but  through  studies.  It  nourishes 
those  ''intellectual  virtues"  out  of  which  the  virtue  of  the 
citizen,  the  teacher,  the  prophet,  must  inevitably  grow.  If 
the  college  can  give  us  interests  and  enthusiasm  and  a  right 
intellectual  method,  it  has  already  furnished  the  foundations 
of  both  character  and  scholarship. 

UNOFFICIAL  ASPECTS    OF   COLLEGE   LIFE 

But  the  chief  values  of  the  modern  college  often  lie,  unfor- 
tunately, quite  outside  the  curriculum.  They  lie  in  the 
atmosphere  that  surrounds  and  pervades,  in  the  ideals  that 
summon  and  inspire  the  student  body.  They  are  impalpable 
and  indescribable,  yet,  like  the  enveloping  air,  with  its 
pressure  of  fifteen  pounds  to  the  square  inch,  they  exert  a 
constant  control.  The  chief  educative  power  of  any  institu- 
tion comes  through  the  constant  association  of  the  students 
with  one  another  and  with  the  faculty.  The  college  is 
primarily  a  "society  of  scholars,"  an  association  for  mutual 
benefit.  The  daily  give-and-take  of  many  associated  minds 
creates  a  psychological  climate.  The  student  can  say,  with 
Ulysses:  "I  am  a  part  of  all  that  I  have  met."  When  he  is 
first  ushered  into  the  new  associations  of  the  perilous  Fresh- 
man year,  he  is  likely  to  be  dazzled  and  distracted.  What 
should  be  his  attitude  toward  all  the  complex  social  life  of  the 
college  ? 

The  dangers  of  social  dissipation. — He  should  seek 
simphcity — in  mode  of  life,  in  daily  program,  in  personal  ambi- 
tion. Our  college  fife  has  no  longer  the  dangers  of  a  vacuum, 
as  it  had  fifty  years  ago,  but  the  dangers  of  a  plenum.  Silly 
pranks  have  largely  disappeared,  but  dissipations  of  energy, 
distractions  of  thought,  side-shows  of  every  kind,  have  multi- 
plied immensely.  The  student's  room  is  a  reception  room; 
his  time  is  seldom  his  own;  he  is  "out"  for  positions  and 
offices — ^athletic,  musical,  literary — and  the  college  life  allows 
little  time  for  self-recollection  and  self -acquaintance.     Here 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  THE  STUDY  OF  THEOLOGY       13 

is  a  danger  quite  as  real  as  the  danger  of  vice  and  crime — 
a  temptation  against  which  the  future  religious  teacher  must 
resolutely  set  himself  at  the  beginning.  Paul's  education  was 
partly  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel;  but  its  most  important  part 
was  acquired  when  he  ''went  away  into  Arabia"  to  think  out 
the  meaning  of  his  own  experience.  The  chief  lack  of  the 
college  man  today  is  time  to  think. 

Acquaintance  with  religious  leaders. — The  student  should 
plan  for  contact  during  college  years  with  great  religious 
leaders  and  movements.  Such  leaders  ought  to  be  found 
among  the  members  of  the  faculty,  and  the  fact  that  they  are 
so  seldom  found  there  should  occasion  us  much  searching  of 
heart.  The  emphasis  of  the  last  quarter-century  is  on 
research  rather  than  on  personality.  The  division  of  knowl- 
edge into  small  sections  called  "departments,"  the  reaction 
from  the  old  dogmatism  to  universal  interrogation,  the 
absorption  of  teachers  in  the  making  of  textbooks  rather  than 
in  the  making  of  men — all  these  things  have  tended  to  repress 
and  cripple  religious  leadership  on  the  part  of  our  college 
teachers.  But  the  opportunity  for  such  leadership  is  greater 
than  ever  before.  The  fact  that  teachers  are  no  longer 
officers  of  discipline  gives  them  a  new  advantage.  The  fra- 
ternal in  place  of  the  old  paternal  relation  is  distinctly  helpful 
to  religious  conference.  The  college  teacher  may  be  far 
closer  to  his  students  than  any  college  president  ever  can  be. 
The  fact  that  the  average  church  sermon  makes  slender  appeal 
to  the  average  student  emphasizes  the  need  of  special  effort 
at  religious  guidance  by  the  college  faculty.  What  the  stu- 
dents need  for  their  religious  training  is  not  so  much  formal 
addresses  as  discussion  under  guidance.  They  need  to  hear 
a  religious  address  with  a  chance  to  "answer  back,"  to  express 
their  own  difficulties,  and  to  grapple  with  some  older,  wiser 
mind  in  frank  discussion.  Many  members  of  our  faculties 
are  able  and  willing  to  do  this,  but  they  wait  for  invitation 
from  the  students.     The  formation  of  voluntary  classes  for 


14  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

biblical   study,   for   ethical   and   religious   conference,   must 
originate  with  the  students  themselves. 

Giving  religion  an  opportunity  to  be  seen  at  its  best. — 
Students  may  also  do  much  to  bring  college  life  into  contact 
with  the  dominating  personalities  of  the  religious  world. 
The  college  Christian  Association  can  easily  secure  the  help 
of  the  administration  in  bringing  into  college  halls  present 
leaders  in  civic  reform,  in  foreign  missions,  in  biblical  inter- 
pretation, in  Christian  education.  A  ten-minute  address 
at  morning  chapel  by  some  man  from  the  heart  of  Africa, 
from  the  slums  of  Chicago,  from  the  medical  missions  in 
South  India,  may  give  more  inspiration  than  an  hour's  ora- 
tion. At  one  university  recently  each  of  the  formal  vesper 
services  of  the  winter  was  followed  by  an  informal  conference 
of  the  preacher  with  the  students  in  the  evening.  The 
announced  subject  of  the  conference  was  in  each  case  intro- 
duced by  the  preacher  in  a  five-minute  address.  Then  the 
students,  sitting  round  him  in  large  semicircle,  turned  upon 
him  a  fusillade  of  sincere  and  searching  questions  that  lasted 
for  an  hour  and  a  half.  At  the  end  of  that  time  they  knew 
the  preacher  as  no  sermon  could  reveal  him,  and  he  knew  the 
students  is  few  members  of  the  faculty  know  them.  One 
conference  on  "Religious  Journalism"  gave  the  students  an 
inside  view  of  an  editor's  office.  One  on  "The  College  Man's 
Idea  of  the  Church"  gave  them  the  apologia  pro  vita  sua  of  a 
distinguished  American  bishop.  One  on  "Opportunities 
in  the  Farther  East"  gave  an  interpretation  of  China  and 
Japan  from  one  who  had  spent  his  life  there.  Another  on  the 
"College  Man's  Idea  of  God"  gave  a  noted  Christian  phi- 
losopher a  chance  to  insert  a  whole  system  of  theology  into 
the  students'  minds  without  their  knowing  it.  The  service 
rendered  among  our  colleges  by  Henry  Churchill  King, 
John  R.  Mott,  Robert  E.  Speer,  Lyman  Abbott,  Francis  G. 
Peabody,  and  a  score  of  other  leaders  is  unsurpassed  in  lasting 
importance.     It  has  meant  the  interpretation  of  the  Kingdom 


-       THE  COLLEGE  AND  THE  STUDY  OF  THEOLOGY       15 

of  God  into  the  students'  own  vocabulary,  into  the  terms 
and  concepts  which  they  hear  every  day  in  the  classroom. 
Students  and  faculty  should  unite  in  bringing  such  men 
into  intimate  and  repeated  contact  with  the  entire  student 
body. 

It  is  strange  that  alumni  possessing  deep  religious  con- 
viction so  seldom  return  to  assist  in  the  religious  development 
of  their  own  colleges.  Alumni  of  athletic  prowess  are  con- 
stantly called  back  to  "coach  the  team."  Alumni  with 
musical  gifts  are  constantly  returning  to  advise  or  train  the 
musical  clubs.  Why  should  not  the  alumni  who  have  the 
deepest  religious  life  constantly  be  called  back  to  inspire  and 
direct  undergraduate  religion  ?  Here  is  an  almost  unoccupied 
field.  Here  is  a  work  every  prospective  religious  leader  may 
do  while  in  college. 

The  practical  expression  of  religious  activity. — But  con- 
ference and  discussion  are  not  enough.  There  must  be  train- 
ing in  altruistic  and  idealistic  effort.  Four  years  of  mere 
reception,  four  years  of  self-centered  culture,  are  a  poor 
preparation  for  a  life  of  real  ministration  to  the  world.  There 
must  be  outgo  as  well  as  intake.  Hence  the  Christian  stu- 
dents in  every  college  should  be  harnessed  for  some  form  of 
human  upHft.  Whether  it  is  in  church  or  social  settlement, 
in  boys'  club  or  children's  playground,  in  reading-room  or 
gymnasium  or  evening  school,  matters  Httle.  Somewhere 
and  somehow  the  student  must  express  his  faith  through 
action  or  his  faith  will  dwindle.  Classroom  lectures  and  dis- 
cussions on  poor-relief,  on  municipal  reform,  on  the  psychology 
of  the  crowd,  are  made  real  and  vital  when  the  student 
attempts  to  help  and  serve  some  needy  neighborhood.  A 
day  of  prayer  for  colleges  is  trebled  in  value  when  followed  by 
the  sincere  endeavor  of  the  students  to  uplift  the  community 
around  them.  Paralyzing  doubts  are  cleared  away  by 
action,  and  of  many  a  venerable  enigma  the  student  learns  to 
say  Solvitur  ambulando — ''it  is  solved  by  going  forward." 


1 6  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  religious  responsibility  of  college  teachers. — A  most 
encouraging  sign  of  the  times  is  the  increasing  reaHzation 
of  college  teachers  and  officers  that  they  are  responsible, 
not  only  for  departments  and  courses  of  study,  but  also  for 
the  temper  and  climate  of  their  institution.  It  is  vain 
to  offer  knowledge  in  bewildering  variety  unless  we  can  also 
offer  a  contagious  enthusiasm,  a  noble  fellowship  in  things  of 
the  spirit,  a  dominating  idealism,  a  faith  that  the  things  which 
are  unseen  are  eternal.  "What  we  need,"  says  an  oriental 
proverb,  "is  not  only  a  filled  vase,  but  a  kindled  hearth."  The 
kindling  of  youth's  imagination  and  desire  is  more  than  all 
possible  furnishing  of  tools  and  technique.  Those  who  teach 
and  administer  in  college  life  have  a  constant  obligation  to 
discover  and  inspire  the  potential  leaders  of  the  spiritual 
life  in  the  next  generation.  When  the  college  finds  within  its 
walls  these  embryo  prophets,  it  should  bestow  on  them  the 
priceless  gifts  of  intellectual  enthusiasm,  sincere  devotion  to 
truth,  familiarity  with  the  ruling  ideas  of  the  modern  world, 
and  eagerness  for  the  higher  ranges  of  theological  study  which 
are  to  follow. 

Note. — The  Religious  Education  Association  a  few  years  ago 
appointed  a  committee  to  recommend  a  course  of  study  for  college 
students  intending  to  study  for  the  ministry.  The  report  of  this  com- 
mittee is  herewith  given,  printed  by  permission  from  Religious  Education. 

PRE-THEOLOGICAL  STUDY  IN  COLLEGE 

Report  of  the  Committee  appointed  by  the  Religious  Education 
Association,  Shailer  Mathews,  Chairman 

1.  Your  Committee  at  first  attempted  to  draw  up  a  complete 
curriculum  for  the  four  college  years.  Such  a  curriculum,  however,  was 
seen  to  be  impracticable  on  account  of  the  different  studies,  number  of 
hours,  and  other  conditions  required  by  different  colleges  for  their  degrees. 
It  seemed  best  to  the  Committee,  therefore,  to  draw  up  a  list  of  courses 
which  are  especially  adapted  to  prepare  men  for  work  in  theological 
seminaries. 

2.  It  has  seemed  advisable,  further,  to  distinguish  between  two 
classes  of  courses:    those  which  seem  absolutely  essential  in  training 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  THE  STUDY  OF  THEOLOGY       17 

for  practical  efficiency  in  the  ministry  (List  A),  and  those  which  are 
highly  important  for  the  development  of  the  more  technically  theological 
efficiency  of  the  ministry  (List  B). 

It  is  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee  that  the  studies  in  List  A 
be  pursued  by  all  students  for  the  ministry,  and  that  course  B  be  pur- 
sued by  those  who  wish  to  prepare  themselves  in  the  fullest  degree  for  the 
philological  and  exegetical  studies  of  the  seminary  curriculum.  In  so  far 
as  the  student's  aptitude  and  opportunities  permit,  the  Committee 
would  suggest  that  the  studies  in  both  lists  be  pursued. 

3.  As  regards  the  amount  of  time  to  be  given  to  each  study,  the 
Committee  has  chosen  as  its  unit  a  course  running  three  hours  a  week 
for  an  entire  college  year.  In  colleges  where  a  given  study  fills  a  differ- 
ent number  of  hours  per  week  the  adjustment  will  easily  be  made. 

The  Committee  further  assumes  that  the  total  number  of  hours  per 
week  required  in  a  college  will  not  exceed  15  or  16. 

The  Committee  has  deemed  it  best  to  leave  a  certain  number  of 
units  free  for  electives,  permitting  more  thorough  study  of  such  courses 
of  the  suggested  curriculum  as  particularly  appeal  to  a  student. 

4.  The  student  is  advised  to  consider  the  instructor  as  well  as 
the  course.  In  case  a  course  is  given  by  an  inferior  instructor,  the  Com- 
mittee advises  that  the  student  substitute  for  it  some  other  course  in  the 
corresponding  group  in  the  other  list,  or,  if  more  advisable,  even  in  some 
subject  not  suggested.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  Committee  that  the  influ- 
ence of  the  teacher  is  as  important  as  the  material  of  a  course. 

List  A 
Courses  Recommended  for  the  Practical  Efficiency  of  the  Ministry 

I..     PREPARATION   IN   LITERARY   EXPRESSION 

Unit  of  3  Hours 
per  Week  for  Year 

English  Composition  and  Rhetoric i 

Literature  (principally  English) i 

Public  Speaking  (art  of  expression,  vocal  training,  debating,  etc.). .  .     i 

The  student  should  take  as  much  as  possible  of  such  work  even 
when  no  academic  credit  is  given  for  it. 

II.      LANGUAGES 

At  least  one  foreign  language,  preferably  Greek 2 

III.      NATURAL   SCIENCE 

Biology I 

Psychology i 


1 8  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

IV.      SOCIAL  SCIENCES 

Unit  of  3  hours 
per  Week  or  Year 

History 2 

Political  Economy ^ 

Study  of  Society  (introduction  to  the  study  of  Sociology,  Depend- 
ents, etc.,  Socialization,  Social  Science) 2 

V.      PHILOSOPHY 

History  of  Philosophy i 


List  B 

Additional  courses  suggested  as  important  preparation  for  technical 
theological  study  from  which  elections  can  be  made 

I.      LANGUAGES 

Latin 2 

German  (if  not  taken  in  high  school,  otherwise  i) 2 

Hebrew  (for  those  whose  aptitude  and  desires  would  lead  them  to 

pursue  Hebrew  in  seminary  courses) i 

Hellenistic  Greek i 

II.      NATURAL  AND   PHYSICAL   SCIENCE 

Geology i 

Physics  or  Chemistry i 

m.      PHILOSOPHY 

Ethics I 

Introduction  to  Philosophy ^ 

Logic i 


II.     THE    HISTORICAL    STUDY    OF    RELIGION 

By  SHAILER  MATHEWS 

Professor  of  Historical  and  Comparative  Theology,  and  Dean  of  the 

Divinity  School,  University  of  Chicago 


ANALYSIS 

PAGES 

A.  The  Historical  Method  in  General. — The  first  step  in  the 
historical  method. — The  materials  for  historical  study. — The  study 
of  literary  material. — Textual  or  lower  criticism. — Historico-literary 
or  higher  criticism. — The  discovery  of  genetic  relations  of  facts. — The 

study  of  the  history  of  religion 21-30 

B.  The  Evolution  of  Religion. — (i)  What  is  meant  by  the  evolu- 
tion of  religion  ? — The  nature  of  religion. — The  common  element  in 
differing  religions. — -Theories  concerning  the  origin  of  religion. — The 
nature  of  religious  activity. — (2)  The  evolution  of  the  personal 
interpretation  of  environment. — Primitive  religions. — Tribal  religion. 
— Monarchical  religion.— The  higher  development  of  monarchical 
religion 30-46 

C.  The  Development  of  Religious  Doctrines. — Mythology,  philoso- 
phy, and  theology. — Mythology  as  a  means  of  interpreting 
religion. — The  relation  between  theology  and  philosophy    .        .        .         46-51 

D.  The  Development  of  Christian  Doctrine. — ^The  creative  social 
mind. — The  creative  social  minds  which  have  made  occidental  his- 
tory.— ^The  contribution  of  the  Semitic  social  mind  to  Christian 
theology. — Some  non-political  elements  in  New  Testament  thought. 
— ^The  hellenistic  social  mind. — Latin  orthodoxy  as  determined  by 
imperialism. — Feudalism  and  Christian  theology. — The  nationalistic 
social  mind  and  theology  — The  age  of  revolutions  and  theology. — 

The  modern  social  mind S1-71 

E.  Why  Theology  Has  Not  Developed  Parallel  with  the  Presup- 
positions of  Social  Experience. — The  influence  of  philosophy. — The 
retarding  influence  of  doctrinal  orthodoxy. — The  constructive  task  of 
theology 71-79 


II.    THE    HISTORICAL    STUDY    OF    RELIGION 
A.    THE  HISTORICAL  METHOD  IN  GENERAL 

The  study  of  history  is  much  more  than  the  reading  of 
books  about  history.  The  genuine  historian  seeks,  by  the 
use  of  all  the  material  at  his  disposal,  so  to  reproduce  the 
past  as  to  make  it  not  only  vivid,  but  also  a  means  of  inter- 
preting the  present.  History,  unlike  biography,  is  essentially 
a  social  study.  It  is  concerned  with  social  groups  rather 
than  with  individual  men  and  women.  It  is  by  no  means  in- 
different to  individuals,  but  regards  them  as  contributors  to 
the  action  of  the  group  of  which  they  are  members.  Biog- 
raphy, on  the  other  hand,  is  centrally  interested  in  the  indi- 
vidual as  related  to  social  activities. 

The  fact  that  history  is  essentially  a  social  study  makes 
possible  a  certain  stability  of  method.  Group  action  is  by 
no  means  so  indeterminate  as  the  actions  of  individuals.  It 
is  possible,  by  statistics,  for  instance,  to  organize  pretty  clearly 
the  general  tendencies  of  groups  of  men,  although  it  is  quite 
impossible  to  determine  just  what  the  action  of  the  com- 
ponent individuals  may  be.  While  the  historian  must  be 
careful  not  to  mistake  philosophical  generalizations  for 
history,  it  is  none  the  less  possible  for  him  to  reach  certain 
general  conclusions  as  to  the  movement  that  constitutes  the 
evolution  of  civilization.  These  generalizations  may  be  of 
real  advantage  in  the  interpretation  of  that  particular  point 
of  the  stream  of  human  life  to  which  he  himself  belongs. 

I.    THE   FIRST   STEP   IN   THE   HISTORICAL  METHOD 

The  first  step  in  a  historical  method  is  the  gathering  of 
materials.  These  materials  may  be  of  varied  sorts  and  are 
by  no  means  limited  to  written  sources.     In  fact,  nothing 


22  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

could  be  more  misleading  than  to  conceive  of  history  as  essen- 
tially a  matter  of  books.  Since  it  deals  with  life,  it  must 
shape  up  its  estimates  of  any  period  of  the  past  through  a 
scientific  examination  of  all  available  products  of  that  life. 
The  materials  for  historical  study  may  be  classified 
(although  the  groups  are  not  absolutely  exclusive)  as : 

a)  Survivals. — Here  would  belong  the  actual  non-material 
survivals,  such  as  living  practices,  customs,  social  attitudes, 
and  institutions  which  have  extended  over  to  the  present  from 
the  past.  Further,  such  matters  as  language,  music,  dances, 
are  often  of  the  utmost  importance  as  embodying  in  themselves 
elements  which  were  the  germs  of  a  more  developed  civi- 
lization. 

b)  Monuments. — The  second  group  of  material  may  be 
roughly  called  the  monuments,  although  the  word  is  some- 
what unfortunate.  Here  belong  the  actual  material  sur- 
vivals of  the  past,  such  as  manuscripts,  papyri,  pottery,  and 
inscriptions  (not  their  contents),  buildings,  coins,  monuments, 
statuary,  and  all  the  material  products  of  a  period.  With 
such  materials  the  archaeologist  and  antiquarian  are  primarily 
concerned.  These  material  remains  of  the  past  are  of  im- 
mense value,  not  only  because  they  furnish  the  contents  in 
such  sources  as  inscriptions  and  manuscripts,  but  because 
in  themselves  they  perpetuate  information  regarding  the 
artistic  and  mechanical  and  general  cultural  developments  of 
the  past.  No  one,  for  example,  could  ever  get  a  fair  con- 
ception of  the  civilization  of  Egypt  without  the  pyramids,  nor 
could  one  accurately  picture  Greek  life  were  it  not  for  the 
great  wealth  of  its  statuary.  The  historical  value  of  muse- 
ums is  therefore  great.  In  them  the  student  of  history  finds 
his  imagination  stimulated  by  the  actual  products  of  past 
activities. 

c)  Unwritten  sources. — The  third  source  of  history  may  be 
said  to  be  the  unwritten  sources  not  intended  to  be  historical, 
like  traditions,  sagas,  anecdotes,  songs,  legends,  myths,  and 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  23 

whatever  else  is  carried  along  from  tongue  to  tongue.  In 
the  course  of  time  this  material  may  be  reduced  to  writing, 
but  it  is  of  distinctly  different  character  from  that  of  deliber- 
ately intentional  records.  Here  again  the  student  of  his- 
tory is  enabled  to  come  directly  to  the  Ufe  of  the  group  he  is 
studying  and  to  share,  as  it  were,  the  creative  impulses  in  a 
way  which  no  description  makes  possible.  Folk-lore  and 
sagas,  for  instance,  lose  much  of  their  charm  and  original 
significance  when  reduced  to  the  printed  page. 

d)  Written  sources. — The  fourth  type  of  material  is 
written.  Such  material  is  by  no  means  limited  to  what 
would  be  called  intentionally  historical  writings,  like  annals, 
chronicles,  genealogies,  biographies,  and  memoirs,  but  com- 
prises also  non-narrative  sources,  including  acts  of  govern- 
ments, and  the  contents  of  "monuments"  already  mentioned. 
In  the  very  nature  of  the  case  this  written  historical  material 
is  of  outstanding  importance  for  the  historian  and  furnishes 
the  largest  mass  of  his  sources.  It  is  particularly  in  the 
study  of  these  written  sources  that  the  historical  method  has 
made  its  most  noteworthy  advances  in  recent  years. 

Literature. — The  best  work  on  historical  method  is  Bernheim, 
Lehrbuch  der  historischen  Methode,  (Leipzig:  Duncker,  1889,  2d  ed., 
1894).  In  English  such  a  work  as  J.  M.  Vincent,  Historical  Research: 
An  Outline  of  Theory  and  Practice  (New  York:  Holt,  191 1),  or  Langlois 
and  Seignobos,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  History  (New  York:  Holt, 
1898),  is  excellent. 

2.      THE   STUDY   OF   LITERARY   MATERIAL 

The  method  of  investigating  this  written  material  is 
called  criticism,  and  is  of  two  sorts,  in  accordance  with  its 
purpose  and  material. 

a)  Textual  or  lower  criticism. — This  is  the  determination 
of  the  original,  or,  if  that  be  impossible,  the  oldest  obtainable 
text  of  a  document,  whether  narrative  or  record.  Its  method 
is   the    systematic   comparison   of   various   texts.     Textual 


24  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

criticism  has  become  a  highly  developed  science  in  itself, 
and  the  results  of  different  critics  tend  to  a  consensus  of 
opinion.  When  we  recall  that  there  are  several  thousand 
variant  manuscripts  in  whole  or  in  part  of  the  New  Testament, 
the  necessity  of  textual  criticism  is  at  once  apparent. 

Textual  criticism,  however,  does  not  undertake  to  do  more 
than  recover  the  oldest  possible  text.  In  the  case  of  the 
New  Testament  no  pretense  is  made  by  the  critics  that  they 
can  reconstruct  any  text  of  a  date  earlier  than  the  second 
century.  That  this  second-century  text  is  doubtless  close  to 
that  of  the  documents  then  circulating  may  very  well  be 
conjectured,  but  no  hope  is  entertained  of  an  absolute  recovery 
of  the  text  of  the  autograph.  Furthermore,  textual  criticism 
leaves  unanswered  many  questions  concerning  the  trust- 
worthiness of  the  record,  the  text  of  which  may  have  been 
approximately  recovered.     Thus  a  second  step  is  demanded. 

b)  Historico-literary  or  higher  criticism. — The  methods  of 
this  stage  of  criticism  are  very  similar  to  those  of  the  textual 
criticism,  but  the  problems  are  different.  Granting  that  we 
have  the  oldest  obtainable  text,  the  question  is  raised  as  to  the 
authorship  of  the  document,  the  possibility  of  rewriting 
or  other  modification  of  an  original  source  having  taken  place, 
the  personal  equation  or  "tendency"  of  an  author  or  editor, 
and  the  integrity  or  composite  character  of  a  source.  In  the 
answer  to  such  questions  there  is,  of  course,  involved  the 
further  and  more  important  matter  of  the  trustworthiness  of 
the  record. 

In  all  attempts  to  answer  such  questions,  particularly  in 
the  case  of  records  so  precious  as  the  books  of  the  Bible,  the 
historical  critic  should  proceed  with  caution  and  by  no  means 
give  way  to  the  temptation  to  make  clever  guesses.  In  the 
estimate  of  the  historical  value  of  any  given  document  we 
must  proceed  by  way  of  testing  hypotheses,  and  such 
hypotheses  should  be  based  upon  painstaking  study  of  the  data 
rather  than  upon  suppositions  and  guesses.     In  testing  any 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  25 

hypothesis  the  student  employing  the  historical  method 
should  be  careful  to  use  all  monumental  evidences  at  his 
disposal.  In  fact,  any  hypothesis  that  is  essentially  un- 
controlled by  study  of  the  actual  materials  of  the  life  of  a 
period  as  far  as  they  are  preserved  is  to  be  adopted  very 
cautiously.  One  of  the  most  serious  difficulties  in  the  present 
study  of  the  history  of  religion,  and  of  Christianity  in  par- 
ticular, is  the  dogmatic  presentation  of  hypotheses  which 
are  based  upon  a  very  narrow  range  of  facts  and  are  largely 
colored  by  the  critic's  own  personal  opinions. 

It  is  obvious  that  in  both  the  lower  ox  textual  and  the 
higher  or  historical  criticism  the  student  must  be  constantly 
on  guard  against  his  own  prejudices  and  preconceptions. 
Absolute  impartiality  in  our  attitudes  is  probably  out  of  the 
question,  and  critical  scholarship  makes  its  permanent  advance 
by  the  mutual  testing  of  various  scholars.  Their  personalities 
serve  to  counteract  one  another,  and  in  the  course  of  time 
results  are  reached  which  are  as  free  from  personal  bias  and  as 
trustworthy  as  the  existing  data  and  human  nature  permit. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  in  so  many  cases  the  student 
for  the  ministry  comes  to  the  historical  study  of  the  Scriptures 
without  any  training  in  historical  method.  As  a  result  he  is 
likely,  at  first,  to  feel  that  the  foundations  of  what  has  been 
to  him  helpful  religious  conviction,  inherited  or  accepted 
without  reflection,  are  being  shaken.  Further  acquaintance 
with  a  genuinely  scientific  method,  however,  serves  to  liberate 
him  from  this  feeling,  and  in  the  study  of  doctrine,  church  and 
Bible  alike,  he  finds  himself  possessed  of  facts  which  are  not 
dependent  for  their  validity  upon  inheritance  or  ecclesiastical 
authority.  None  the  less  the  transition  from  one  type  of 
study  in  religion  to  another  should  be  made  in  the  atmosphere 
of  religion  itself.  Nothing  is  more  fatal  to  the  spirit  of 
genuine  religion  than  the  substitution  of  scientific  method  for 
personal  fellowship  with  God.  "To  pray  well  is  to  study 
well"  is  as  true  of  the  historical  critic  as  of  the  preacher. 


26  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Literature. — The  following  are  useful  for  a  study  of  criticism:  Zenos, 
Elements  of  the  Higher  Criticism  (New  York:  Funk  &  Wagnalls,  1895); 
Dods,  The  Bible,  Its  Origin  and  Nature  (New  York:  Scribner,  1905); 
Bernheim,  Lehrhuch  der  historischen  Methode  (Leipzig:  Duncker  & 
Humblot,  1889,  2nd  ed.,  1894);  Briggs,  Introduction  to  the  Study  oj  Holy 
Scripture  (New  York:  Scribner,  1899). 

3.      THE  DISCOVERY   OF   GENETIC   RELATIONS   OF   FACTS 

The  study  of  sources  is  only  introductory  to  the  more 
definitely  historical  methods.  Criticism  gives  material  and 
nothing  more.  When  sources  have  been  properly  studied 
and  their  worth  as  historical  material  has  been  determined, 
there  begins  the  work  of  the  historian  proper,  namely,  such  an 
organization  of  the  material  thus  gained  as  to  produce  an 
accurate  description  of  the  total  situation  under  investigation. 
The  difference  between  the  antiquarian  and  the  historian 
here  becomes  evident.  The  antiquarian,  as  such,  is  interested 
in  objects  rather  than  in  life-processes.  The  historian  will 
use  the  results  of  antiquarian  study  much  as  he  uses  those 
of  lower  and  higher  criticism,  but  he  himself  must  proceed  to 
show  the  relations  in  which  these  various  facts  stand.  For,  in 
history,  relations  and  particularly  the  processes  of  social 
experience  are  of  supreme  importance.  To  know  how  a  situa- 
tion came  into  existence  is  indispensable  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  situation.  Equally  indispensable  is  the  power  of  evaluat- 
ing historical  conditions  from  the  point  of  view  of  their  out- 
comes in  the  genetic  process  of  social  evolution. 

At  this  point  it  is  very  necessary  to  distinguish  between 
history  and  the  philosophy  of  history.  Probably  no  historian 
is  absolutely  free  from  philosophical  predilections,  and  he 
must  be  constantly  on  his  guard  against  the  tyranny  of  pre- 
conceived philosophy.  Such  theories  should  really  come  by 
induction  from  the  facts  themselves.  It  is  true,  however, 
that  studies  in  certain  fields,  particularly  in  those  of  statistics, 
politics,  law,  and  sociology,  furnish  general  conceptions  by 
which  the  inner  relations  of  historical  experience  may  be 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  27 

tested;  but  these  features  are  of  less  importance  than  those 
almost  subconscious  habits  of  thought  which  are  the  expres- 
sion of  the  general  social  mind  under  whose  influences  the 
historian  lives.  At  present  this  is  particularly  true  because 
of  the  conception  of  process  and  development  which  have  come 
into  the  social  sciences  from  the  biological  and  geological 
fields. 

It  is  necessary  also  to  know  the  geographical  conditions 
and  economic  struggles  which  have  conditioned  human  efforts. 

History  is  more  than  its  record,  for  it  is  the  actual  living 
of  men  and  women.  It  is  concrete,  a  movement  full  of 
changes  as  well  as  results.  It  extends  far  beyond  the  earliest 
historical  records.  Indeed,  the  actually  recorded  history  of 
humanity  covers  an  exceedingly  small  period  compared  with 
the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  during  which,  we  are 
assured,  man  has  been  living  upon  the  planet.  Really  to 
understand  our  present  life  it  is  necessary  to  recall  the  long 
struggles  of  our  far-away  ancestors.  To  this  end  the  study 
of  the  bones  and  implements  found  in  various  geological  strata 
is  as  truly  of  importance  as  is  the  study  of  newspapers.  We 
can  best  appreciate  how  far  the  race  has  actually  developed 
when  we  compare  our  modern  world  with  human  affairs  as 
they  appear  from  a  study  of  prehistoric  man. 

From  this  point  of  view  we  can  appreciate  the  value  of  the 
study  of  primitive  peoples.  They  are,  so  to  speak,  the  social 
left-overs,  human  survivals  of  stages  of  civilization  which  once 
were  the  highest  known.  These  primitive  peoples  are  not 
lacking  in  ability,  and  when  they  come  under  the  influence 
of  a  higher  civilization,  particularly  when  this  is  mediated  by 
Christianity,  they  develop  amazingly;  but  their  customs,  reli- 
gions, and  social  structure  enable  us  again  to  appreciate  the 
great  progress  which  has  been  made  in  human  life. 

Literature. — On  primitive  life,  Tylor,  Primitive  Culture,  3d  ed.  (New 
York:  Holt,  1889),  may  be  well  studied.  Thomas,  Source  Book  for 
Social  Origins  (Chicago:   The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909),  is  of 


28  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

great  value.  Keane,  Man,  Past  and  Present  (Cambridge:  University 
Press,  1899),  is  a  good  handbook  but  somewhat  too  certain  at  points. 
Sumner,  Folkways  (Boston:  Ginn  &  Co.,  1907),  is  valuable  for  its  dis- 
cussion of  primitive  social  control.  Osborn,  The  Men  of  the  Old  Stone 
Age  (New  York:  Scribner,  191 5)  is  a  valuable  compendium  of  our 
knowledge  of  earliest  races.  On  the  general  trend  of  history,  see 
Mathews,  The  Spiritual  Interpretation  of  History  (Harvard  University 
Press,  1 916). 

4.      THE   STUDY   OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   RELIGION 

It  is  from  this  point  of  view  that  men  are  now  learning 
to  study  the  history  of  rehgion.  The  same  methods  which  are 
applied  to  tracing  the  development  of  any  other  human  inter- 
est are  now  being  applied  with  very  interesting  results  to  the 
development  of  religion.  Such  a  study  involves  a  knowledge 
of  anthropology  and  a  careful  investigation  of  the  lives, 
manners,  and  customs  of  primitive  peoples;  yet  such  a  knowl- 
edge is  by  no  means  all  that  the  history  of  religion  involves. 
As  Farnell,  Evolution  of  Religion,  well  argues,  we  need  to  know 
not  only  origins  but  processes  of  development. 

Fortunately,  we  possess  the  records  of  a  religion  which  has 
thus  developed  from  the  very  simplest  type  of  social  customs. 
The  Bible  is  a  record  of  the  religious  experience  of  the  Hebrews 
from  the  dawn  of  their  historical  records  to  the  very  highest 
ideal  type  of  life  to  be  found  in  Jesus.  It  is  only  recently, 
however,  that  this  wonderful  collection  of  historical  material 
has  been  treated  in  a  historical  way.  Theologians  have  used 
the  Bible  to  find  proof-texts;  preachers  have  allegorized  it  to 
get  religious  inspiration  and  the  truth  which  they  wish  to 
preach;  fanatics  have  found  in  it  all  sorts  of  ammunition  for 
attacking  their  opponents;  but  the  sober  and  reverent  study 
of  its  passages  by  the  use  of  literary  and  historical  methods 
which  have  proved  themselves  effective  in  other  fields  of 
similar  research  was  for  centuries  neglected. 

The  application  of  these  methods  to  the  study  of  the  Bible 
has  served  to  enable  us,  first  of  all,  to  appreciate  the  worth  and 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  29 

the  character  of  the  documents  of  the  Bible  itself;  but,  more 
important,  it  has  enabled  us,  in  the  second  place,  to  trace 
the  development  of  the  Hebrew  religion  as  the  Hebrew  people 
progressed  and  made  their  way  through  the  various  strata  of 
social  experience.  In  the  start  they  had  not  even  a  tribal 
organization.  Gradually  the  tribes  emerged,  confederated, 
fell  apart,  and  out  from  a  section  of  them  emerged  a  nation. 
This  nation  in  turn  suffered  the  experiences  of  little  nations 
situated  between  mighty  military  powers,  and  the  Jewish 
people  ceased  to  be  a  nation,  but  spread  over  the  world  as 
immigrants,  bearing  the  hope  of  a  glorious  kingdom  which 
God  would  later  establish  for  them. 

Then  came  Christianity — a  religion  which  emerged  from 
Judaism,  but  perpetuated  no  ethnic  traits,  retaining  only  the 
religious  and  ethical  ideals.  These  it  presented  as  embodied 
and  completed  in  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ — a  life  which  the 
world  has  always  regarded  as  supreme. 

Fully  to  appreciate  this  development  of  our  own  religion 
it  is  advisable  for  the  student  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
development  of  other  religions.  Students  of  comparative 
religion  have  in  the  past  been  less  interested  in  the  develop- 
ment of  religions  than  in  contrasting  various  systems  and 
discovering  their  common  elements  and  their  differences. 
The  study  of  the  history  of  religion  is  somewhat  different  from 
this,  and  as  yet  has  confined  itself  pretty  largely  to  the  study 
of  primitive  peoples.  There  are  indications,  however,  that  on 
the  basis  of  such  anthropological  and  scientific  investigations 
there  will  be  built  a  more  complete  presentation  of  religion  in 
its  more  developed  forms  (see  section  B). 

Literature. — Good  introductions  to  the  study  of  comparative  religion 
are  those  by  Jevons,  An  Introduction  to  the  History  of  Religion  (London: 
Methuen,  1896),  and  Menzies,  History  of  Religion  (New  York:  Scribner, 
1895).  Pfleiderer,  Religion  und  Religionen  (Munich:  Lehmann,  1906; 
EngUsh  translation,  Religion  and  Historic  Faiths  [New  York:  Huebsch, 
1907]))  gives  a  compact  general  study. 


30  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Efforts  have  been  made  in  this  connection  to  show  how 
Christianity  has  emerged  from  earher  reHgious  movements. 
Particularly  by  the  religionsgeschichtliche  school  has  the 
endeavor  been  made  to  trace  the  ideas  of  the  New 
Testament  to  earlier  religions,  especially  those  of  Egypt, 
Syria,  Persia,  and  Assyria.  Such  procedure  has  brought 
to  light  many  interesting  facts,  but  as  yet  it  is  marked  by  more 
ingenuity  than  solid  reasoning.  An  extreme  development 
is  to  be  seen  in  authors  like  Drews  {The  Christ  Myth),  who 
have  denied  the  historicity  of  Jesus  and  have  made  him  a 
personification  of  religious  ideals. 

Literature. — For  a  study  of  the  primitive  religions  as  a  phase  of  this 
new  movement  students  may  be  referred  to  King,  The  Development  of 
Religion  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1910);  FarneW,  Evolution  of  Religion 
(New  York:  Putnam,  1905);  Durkheim,  Les  formes  elementaires  de  la  vie 
religieuse  (Paris:  Alcan,  191 2;  EngUsh  translation,  The  Elementary 
Forms  of  the  Religious  Life  [New  York:  Macmillan,  191 5]);  Ames,  The 
Psychology  of  Religious  Experience  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin,  1910). 
The  most  elaborate  work  is  Frazer,  Golden  Bough  (London:  Macmillan, 
1911-15).  The  position  of  those  who  deny  the  historicity  of  Jesus  can 
be  found  well  criticized  in  Case,  The  Historicity  of  Jesus  (Chicago:  The 
University  of  Chicago  Press,  191 2). 

B.    iTHE  EVOLUTION  OF  RELIGION 
I.      WHAT   IS   MEANT   BY   THE   EVOLUTION   OF   RELIGION?' 

The  use  of  the  term  "evolution "  in  connection  with  religion 
is  subject  to  at  least  two  objections.  On  the  one  side  are  those 
who  insist  that  religion  is  the  gift  of  God,  and  therefore  has  no 
historical  development.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  the  biologist 
may  object  to  the  use  of  the  term  in  any  such  general  sense  as 
a  student  of  social  science  must  adopt. 

To  the  first  critic  it  may  be  replied  that,  when  he  asserts 
or  implies  that  religion  has  not  developed  like  other  elements 
in  human  experience,  the  facts  are  against  him.     Whatever 

'  In  the  following  discussion  I  have  used  freely,  with  the  consent  of  the 
editors,  materials  of  papers  published  by  myself  in  the  American  Journal  of 
Theology,  the  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  and  the  Construclive  Quarterly. 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  31 

may  have  been  its  origin,  religion  exhibits  phenomena  akin 
to  those  observable  in  social  institutions  to  which  the  term 
"evolution"  may  legitimately  be  applied.  The  old  dis- 
tinction of  the  Deists  between  natural  and  revealed  religion 
has  been  outgrown,  not  so  much  because  it  did  not  involve 
large  elements  of  truth,  but  because  as  a  final  answer  to  the 
problems  set  by  the  history  of  Christianity  it  failed  to  take 
into  account  those  psychological  and  sociological  factors  with 
which  .the  modern  student  is  particularly  concerned.  All 
religions  are  phases  of  religion. 

To  the  other  class  of  critics  it  must  be  replied  that  if 
biologists  ever  had  a  monopoly  on  the  term  "evolution"  their 
exclusive  rights  have  long  since  expired.  The  conception 
given  to  the  word  by  the  Origin  of  Species  and  general  bio- 
logical usage  is  a  particular  phase  of  a  view  of  the  world  as 
old  as  reflective  thought.  The  service  which  biology  has 
rendered  the  social  sciences  at  this  point  has  largely  been 
confined  to  the  region  of  method,  vocabularies,  and  analogies. 
If  these  analogies  have  too  often  been  overemphasized  and 
made  to  do  yeoman  service  in  the  name  of  some  non-biological 
science,  they  have  none  the  less  made  it  possible  to  realize 
that  whatever  precise  definition  may  be  given  to  the  term 
"evolution"  there  is  a  large  measure  of  similarity  between 
certain  processes  in  social  history  and  certain  others  in  the 
building  up  of  cellular  organisms.  Outside  of  the  strictly 
biological  sciences  the  word  must  be  used  in  a  large  sense,  but 
it  is  not  identical  with  mere  change  or  growth.  It  is  possible 
to  trace  religion,  as  one  of  the  functional  expressions  of  life 
itself,  through  increasingly  complicated  and  more  highly  differ- 
entiated activities  and  institutions,  as  that  life,  both  of  indi- 
viduals and  of  societies,  seeks  to  adjust  itself  more  effectively 
to  its  environment.  The  result  of  such  vital  activity  is  to 
produce,  as  it  were,  species  of  religions,  between  which,  as, 
for  example,  between  Brahmanism  and  Mohammedanism, 
there  is  only  a  generic  likeness. 


32  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

2,      THE   NATURE    OF   RELIGION 

a)  Religion  not  an  abstraction. — There  have  been  times  in 
which  men  have  endeavored  to  arrive  at  the  conception  of 
rehgion  by  abstracting  from  Christianity  its  characteristic 
elements.  Other  attempts  have  been  made  to  extend  this 
process  of  abstraction  to  all  religions,  and  thus  to  discover  that 
which  is,  so  to  speak,  a  generic  concept.  The  difficulty  with 
such  search  after  a  bit  of  scholastic  realism  is  evident.  Generic 
religion  never  existed  apart  from  religions,  and  religions  never 
existed  except  as  interests  and  institutions  of  real  people. 
There  is  imperative  need  that  all  students  of  the  subject, 
and  especially  theologians,  should  emancipate  themselves  from 
scholastic  abstractions  and  frankly  recognize  that  religion  is 
not  a  thing  in  itself,  possessed  of  independent,  abstract,  or 
metaphysical  existence,  but  is  a  name  for  one  phase  of  con- 
crete life.  It  is  only  from  a  strictly  social  point  of  view  that 
either  religion  or  religions  will  in  any  measure  be  properly 
understood.  We  know  only  people  who  worship  in  various 
ways  and  with  various  conceptions  of  what  or  whom  they 
worship. 

b)  What  is  the  common  element  in  differing  religions? — 
Yet  while  men  possess  religions  and  not  merely  religion,  reli- 
gions of  all  sorts,  from  the  simplest  custom  of  the  savage  to  the 
profundity  of  Brahmanism  and  the  redemptive  gospels  of 
the  Buddhist  and  the  Christian,  they  have  discovered  within 
themselves  religion  as  a  common  divisor,  as  it  were.  And 
religion  is  a  functioning  of  life  itself  as  truly  and  universally 
human  as  the  impulse  of  sex  or  of  self-preservation. 

If  we  attempt  to  formulate  this  common  element  and 
to  describe  this  functional  expression  of  life  expressed  in  all 
religions,  we  must  compare  both  the  highly  developed  religious 
systems  and  the  simplest  type  of  religion  as  it  exists  among 
primitive  peoples.  The  more  complex  systems  show  the 
direction  taken  by  the  religious  expression  of  life,  and  the 
simplest  religious  organisms  help  us  to  understand  the  more 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  2>3 

complicated.  To  push  the  biological  analogy  farther,  it 
might  be  said  that  the  ''cell"  of  religion  is  man's  conscious 
attempt  to  place  himself,  as  a  member  of  a  group  possessed  of 
similar  concepts  and  customs,  in  benefit-gaining  relationship  with 
those  superhuman  forces  in  his  world,  his  dependence  upon 
which  he  realizes,  and  which  he  treats  as  he  would  treat  persons 
by  whom  he  wished  to  be  aided.  Or,  more  briefly,  religion  is  a 
social  laying  hold  of  God  (or  any  object  of  worship)  for  the 
sake  of  help  or  salvation. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  content  of  such  a  formal  definition 
will  vary  according  to  the  conception  of  what  constitutes  this 
superhuman  environment,  and  that  this  variety  of  estimate 
will  affect  the  methods  which  a  man  adopts  in  his  search  for 
superhuman  aid.  A  study  of  even  the  most  primitive  religion 
leads  one  to  two  convictions  apparently  paradoxical :  religion 
does  not  necessarily  imply  a  belief  in  a  supreme  person,  and 
yet,  in  religion,  environment  is  conceived  of  in  the  same  way 
that  men  conceive  of  persons.  Therein  the  functioning  of  life 
in  religion  differs  from  the  functioning  of  life  in  the  satisfaction 
of  the  impulse  of  sex  or  of  food-seeking.  True  religion  does 
not,  as  Monier- Williams  would  insist,  postulate  the  existence 
of  one  living  and  true  God  of  infinite  power,  wisdom,  and  love. 
That  would  exclude  too  many  religious  customs  and  rites. 
Men  have  worshiped  fetishes  or  animals  or  sacred  stones. 
Such  objects  are  regarded  as  elements  in  the  environment 
which  affect  human  interests,  and  therefore,  without  being 
of  necessity  consciously  personified,  are  treated  as  if  they 
were  personal. 

c)  Theories  concerning  the  origin  of  religion. — There  are  a 
number  of  theories  undertaking  to  show  how  this  attitude 
of  mind  was  induced,  but  all  are  more  or  less  unsatisfactory. 
Some  find  the  cause  in  fear,  or  dreams,  or  regard  for  ancestors, 
or  the  appetencies  of  sex.  Doubtless  there  is  truth  in  all  of 
these  hypotheses,  but  we  are  not  absolutely  sure  as  to  just  how 
religion  came  into  existence  any  more  than  we  are  sure  as  to 


34  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

how  human  Hfe  itself  arose.  We  can,  however,  see  clearly  that 
the  functional  significance  of  religion  is  an  elemental  expression 
of  the  second  of  the  two  elemental  impulses  of  life  itself, 
namely,  to  propagate  and  to  protect  itself.  Religion  is  life 
functioning  in  the  interest  of  self-protection.  It  differs  from 
similar  functional  expressions  of  life  in  that  (i)  it  treats 
certain  elements  of  its  environment  personally  (though  not 
necessarily  as  a  person),  and  (2)  it  seeks  to  make  these 
friendly  and  so  helpful.  One  or  the  other  of  these  two  ele- 
ments has  almost  invariably  been  overlooked  in  studies  of 
religion,  but  both  are  indispensable  to  the  concept.  Religion 
utilizes  personal  experience  and  uncompromisingly  pre- 
supposes personalism — not,  let  it  be  repeated,  always  in  the 
sense  of  any  systematic  world-view.  Doubtless  unconsciously 
at  the  first,  but  with  ever-increasing  clearness  of  conception, 
men  have  treated  their  environment  as  they  would  treat 
human  beings.  Religion  is  uncompromisingly  functional, 
not  only  in  adjusting  the  individual  or  the  group  to  its  environ- 
ment, but  also  in  the  attempt  to  adjust  environment  to  the 
person  or  the  community.  Thus  Schleiermacher's  conception 
of  religion  as  a  feeling  of  dependence  is  only  part  of  the  truth. 
To  it  must  be  added  the  conscious  effort  tOvvard  reconciliation. 
It  is  this  twofold  modification  of  the  elemental  functioning  of 
life  in  the  interest  of  self-preservation  that  distinguishes 
religion  from  so  many  activities  with  which  it  has  been  inti- 
mately associated,  like  hunting,  and  grain-planting,  marriage, 
and  burial. 

Obviously  the  inception  of  this  radically  human  attitude 
toward  its  world  is  lost  in  the  unrecorded  struggles  by  which 
humanity  raised  itself  above  the  other  forms  of  animal  life 
with  which  it  is  genetically  united.  But  one's  ignorance 
here  does  not  impugn  the  fact  that  such  a  use  of  experience 
was  actually  made. 

Some  time,  somewhere — just  when  and  where  it  matters 
not — there  appeared  a  man  who,  first  of  all  living  creatures, 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  35 

with  the  new  impulses  of  a  genuine  person,  attempted  to  adjust 
himself  consciously  to  the  outer  world  upon  which  he  saw 
himself  dependent  by  an  attempt  to  make  that  outer  world 
favorable  to  himself.  It  makes  little  difference  how  he 
conceived  that  outer  world  or  which  one  of  its  particular 
aspects  first  impressed  him.  Any  one  of  the  various  theories 
of  the  origin  of  religion  might  here  suffice.  The  essential 
thing  is  that,  in  his  passion  to  protect  his  life  and  to  insure  his 
continuous  existence  as  a  person,  he  attempted  consciously  to 
enjoy  or  to  win  the  favor  of  the  extra-human  environment 
with  which  he  found  himself  involved  and  on  which  his 
happiness  seemed  to  depend.  And  that,  so  far  as  we  know, 
no  animal  other  than  man  ever  attempted  to  accomplish. 

But  even  this  statement  is  too  individuaUstic.  Such 
efforts  have  always  appeared  in  history  as  the  expressions  of 
group  activity.  Religions  are  fundamentally  social,  the  pos- 
session of  some  tribe,  nation,  or  church. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  insist  that  all  religions  are  genetically 
related,  in  the  sense  that  one  has  been  derived  from  another. 
That  some  such  relations  between  certain  religions  in  the  way 
of  development  or  devolution  exist  is  undeniable;  but  the 
historico-religious  method  at  the  present  time  is  in  danger  of 
mistaking  similarities  between  religions  for  genealogical  rela- 
tions. Thus  in  the  comparative  study,  let  us  say,  of  Chris- 
tianity there  is  strong  temptation  to  insist  that  elements 
of  Babylonian  myths  go  to  constitute  the  very  content  of 
Christianity.  That  a  certain  degree  of  genealogical  relation- 
ship in  this  particular  case  may  exist  may  well  be  admitted, 
but  a  too  rigorous  application  of  the  comparative  genealogical 
method  in  the  study  of  religion  is  certain  to  distort  the  facts. 
If  there  is  anything  undeniable  in  the  study  of  society,  it  is 
that  human  nature  is  essentially  the  same,  and  that  when 
facing  the  same  social  needs  it  functions  in  a  generic  sort  of 
way.  Thus,  in  the  case  of  inventions,  men  subject  to  the 
stimulation  of  similar  social  needs,  in  absolute  independence 


36  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  each  other,  produce  instruments  and  processes  practically 
identical.  An  even  more  striking  illustration  of  this  general 
tendency  is  to  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  all  civilizations  pre- 
cipitate practically  the  same  moral  codes  when  they  arrive 
at  the  same  stage  of  complication  of  social  life.  So  in  the 
case  of  religions;  the  striking  similarities  which  occur  between 
religions  belonging  to  the  primitive  groups  and  reHgions  belong- 
ing to  the  highly  socialized  groups  are  not  necessarily  to  be 
interpreted  as  involving  imitative,  or  in  fact  any,  historical 
relationship.  Such  similarities,  both  in  institution  and  in 
process  of  evolution,  can  often  be  sufficiently  well  accounted 
for  by  a  generic  religious  impulse  in  humanity,  which  tends 
to  produce  customs,  rites,  institutions,  and  creeds  in  answer 
to  individual  and  social  needs. 

d)  The  nature  of  religious  activity. — At  the  risk  of  excessive 
repetition  one  thing  needs  particularly  to  be  emphasized; 
namely,  the  worshiper  not  only  seeks  to  appease  that  in  his 
environment  which  he  regards  as  conditioning  his  welfare, 
but  he  also  undertakes  to  put  himself  into  proper  relationship 
with  that  which  he  appeases.  The  essence  of  religion  is  not  a 
feeling  of  dependence,  but  the  impulse  toward  reconciliation 
with  that  which  engenders  such  a  feeling.  The  moment 
a  group  thinks  that  the  highest  power  in  its  environment  is 
unreconcilable  its  relations  therewith  become  utterly  passive, 
i.e.,  impersonal;  men  cease  to  be  religious  and  become  simply 
fatalists.  And  fatalism  is  not  religion,  for  it  lacks  the 
fundamental  attitude  of  religion,  which  is  the  effort  to  establish 
favorable  relations  with  the  super-environment.  In  other 
words,  the  situation  which  religion  would  establish  is  one  of 
personal  harmony  between  the  worshiper  and  that  worshiped, 
no  matter  how  crude  or  superstitious  that  relationship  may 
be.  The  primitive  savage  who  by  mysterious  rites  seeks  to 
induce  his  corn-god  to  give  him  a  good  harvest  differs  no  whit, 
so  far  as  his  psychological  attitude  is  concerned,  from  the 
most  philosophically  religious  person  who  seeks  to  enter  into 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  37 

healthful  personal  relations  with  a  supreme  and  infinite  God 
through  an  intelligent  faith  that  the  universe  may  be  conceived 
of  as  involving  a  cosmic  personality  possessed  of  purpose  and 
love.  How  true  this  is,  is  apparent  in  the  work  of  Christian 
missionaries.  They  do  not  need  to  engender  the  religious 
impulse — they  need  simply  to  give  new  content  and  intel- 
lectual control  to  that  impulse.  A  man  could  never  make  a 
religious  convert  of  a  dog.  The  South  Sea  cannibal  could 
become  a  Christian  because  he  was  first  of  all  rehgious. 

Literature. — On  religion  in  general  there  is  developing  a  voluminous 
literature.  Farnell,  The  Evolution  of  Religion  (New  York:  Putnam, 
1905),  is  a  good  handbook  on  certain  religious  phenomena,  particularly 
sacrifice.  Robertson  Smith,  The  Religion  of  the  Semites  (London:  Black, 
1894) ;  Bousset,  Das  Wesen  der  Religion  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1906;  English 
translation.  What  Is  Religion?  [New  York:  Putnam,  1907]);  King, 
The  Development  of  Religion  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1910);  Moulton, 
Religions  and  Religion  (New  York:  Methodist  Book  Concern,  1914); 
and  Andrew  Lang,  Ritual  and  Religion  (London:  Longmans,  1899),  are 
also  valuable  general  popular  treatments.  Toy,  Introduction  to  the 
History  of  Religion  (Boston:  Ginn  &  Co.,  1913);  Jastrow,  Introduction 
to  the  Study  of  Religion  (New  York:  Scribner,  1901),  are  admirable 
handbooks.    See  also  important  titles  on  p.  29. 

3.      THE    EVOLUTION    OF    THE    PERSONAL    INTERPRETATION    OF 
ENVIRONMENT 

It  will  be  understood  from  what  has  already  been  said 
that  the  term  extra-  or  superhuman  environment  does  not 
always  necessarily  involve  personality.  What  the  term  means 
is  simply  some  power  other  and  (in  its  influence  at  least)  more 
than  human  which  a  group  regards  as  having  influence  upon 
its  life  and  fortunes.  The  fact  that  such  elements  of  the 
environment  are  treated  as  if  they  were  personal  is  only  to  say 
that  religion  involves  an  extension  of  personal  experience  over 
into  environment  as  a  means  of  interpreting  that  environment 
in  the  interests  of  a  helpful  reconciliation.  Personal  Ufe 
seeks  personal  adjustment  to  an  environment  beheved  to 
possess  personal  elements.     Such  an  instinctive  act  is  not 


38  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION    ' 

unlike  that  in  which,  to  speak  figuratively,  a  living  organism 
makes  the  assumption  that  its  environment  discovered  by 
experience  is  capable  of  forming  a  part  of  a  dynamic  situation. 
Thus  far  Ward  is  correct  in  saying  that  religion  is  in  man  what 
instinct  is  in  animals.  But  only  in  so  far;  for  did  an  animal 
ever  seek  to  placate  nature  ?  The  personal  element  is  essential 
in  religion,  because  it  is  the  functioning  of  the  total  life  of  a 
personal   being. 

The  essential  matter  in  the  evolution  of  religion,  as  in  all 
evolution,  is  the  transformation  of  the  original  organism 
through  its  relation  with  its  environment  and  the  nucleating 
about  itself — if  the  figure  may  be  allowed — of  other  experiences 
into  species  of  the  same  genus.  And  this  is  accomplished  by 
the  varying  social  experience  with  which  a  group  adjusts  itself 
to  its  environment,  to  which  it  must  submit,  and  from  which 
it  must  derive  assistance. 

a)  Primitive  religions. — ^These  generally  deal  with 
environment  directly.  The  primitive  gods  in  the  earliest 
survivals  and  literature  in  which  we  can  trace  religious  con- 
cepts were  often  natural  forces.  The  heavens  and  earth, 
fire,  water,  and  wind,  the  sun,  moon,  and  planets — these 
natural  objects  were  worshiped,  but  they  were  not  personified. 
Man  found  himself  face  to  face  with  the  awfulness  of  Nature. 
He  saw  how  dependent  he  was  upon  Nature,  how  the  rising  of 
the  river  would  flood  and  sweep  away  his  hut,  how  the  rain 
would  come  from  heaven  to  give  him  grass  for  his  cattle,  how 
the  sun  would  drive  the  animals  he  hunted  into  the  deep 
forests.  He  naturally  wanted  to  make  the  river  and  the 
heavens  propitious.  He  therefore  treated  them  as  he  treated 
human  beings  whom  he  wished  to  make  propitious. 

Groups  also  were  or  became  animistic  and  regarded 
natural  forces  as  the  home  or  the  visible  expression  of  personal 
beings,  such  as  ghosts,  spirits,  gods.  These,  men  treated 
personally — as  they  treated  members  of  their  own  or  other 
tribes.     Customs  thus  preceded  doctrines. 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  39 

If  we  go  even  farther  back  than  philology  can  carry  us  and 
study  religion  as  we  discover  it  in  the  most  primitive  folk, 
we  find  corroboration  for  this  view,  although  with  this  differ- 
ence :  there  seem  to  be  some  tribes  that  have  not  risen  to  the 
conception  of  the  great  natural  forces  as  those  that  are  to  be 
appeased  and  who  therefore  concern  themselves  rather  with 
items  in  their  natural  environment.  In  fact,  anything  unusual 
is  likely  to  be  regarded  by  primitive  men  as  a  good  or  a  malign 
influence.  In  either  case  it  needs  to  be  treated  with  respect 
and,  if  possible,  placated.  A  rock  over  which  someone  has 
fallen,  a  cave  in  the  darkness  of  which  someone  has  been  lost, 
a  curious  root  that  was  discovered  when  someone  became  ill, 
a  tree  that  has  been  struck  by  lightning — all  have  been 
regarded  as  operative  forces  in  man's  situation  which  have 
needed  in  some  way  to  be  placated. 

Here,  too,  an  early  step  was  to  regard  these  natural 
objects  as  the  residence  of  some  spirit,  good  or  evil.  Thus 
fetishism  arose  as  a  sort  of  limitation  of  the  lesser  nature- 
worship.  Not  all  natural  objects  were  significant,  and  even 
those  which  were  might  lose  their  meaning  if  the  spirit  aban- 
doned them. 

It  is  possible  to  draw  a  distinction  between  magic  and  reli- 
gion as  soon  as  religion  begins  to  take  on  its  more  social  form. 
The  witch  is  different  from  the  priest,  in  that  her  arts  are 
anti-social,  or  at  least  not  those  of  the  group.  Despite  the 
weighty  names  to  be  quoted  against  such  a  view,  it  would 
seem  to  me  that  non-injurious  magic  may  often  be  treated 
as  the  vestige  of  a  rudimentary  religion  preserved  and 
observed  by  specially  empowered  persons  rather  than  by 
groups.  For  there  is  in  such  magic,  e.g.,  rain-making,  that 
"will  to  conciliate"  as  well  as  to  control,  which,  as  a  comple- 
ment to  the  "will  to  power,"  is  the  very  sign- manual  of 
religion.  But  this  is  not  to  say  that  religion  developed  from 
magic.  The  fundamental  difference  between  magic  and  reli- 
gion lies  not  in  the  fact  that  magic  was  originally  anti-social 


/ 

40  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION  ' 

or  individualistic,  but  in  the  fact  that  in  the  course  of  social 
evolution  it  is  seen  to  be  so.  As  religion  develops,  certain 
rites  are  seen  to  apply  only  the  impersonal  principle  that 
like  affects  like  through  the  agency  of  a  specially  empow- 
ered person  who  has  a  personal  monopoly  of  power.  The 
primitive  religion  thus  outgrown  becomes  magic  and,  although 
socially  condemned,  continues  as  a  survival.  And  the  reason 
for  its  condemnation  is  in  large  measure  the  development  of  a 
knowledge  of  natural  processes.  A  growing  science  thus  rele- 
gates certain  elements  of  a  religion  to  superstition. 

Similarly,  too,  in  the  case  of  the  worship  of  dead  ancestors, 
a  stage  in  religious  development  to  be  found  all  but  universally 
in  simple  civilizations.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  origin 
of  such  a  custom,  it  is  sufficiently  clear  that  the  dead  are 
regarded  as  important  factors  in  determining  good  and  evil 
fortune.  For  a  group  to  propitiate  them  is  therefore  good 
policy  as  well  as  tribal  piety. 

b)  Tribal  religion. — With  the  emergence  of  actual  tribal 
organization  a  new  phase  in  this  religious  interest  appeared. 
A  developing  civilization  does  not  always,  it  is  true,  immedi- 
ately react  to  the  conception  of  the  god,  but,  in  so  far  as  the 
religious  concept  develops,  it  invariably  passes  through  a 
stage  in  which  these  forces  which  have  been  treated  like 
persons  are  treated  as  persons.  This  is  to  say  that,  con- 
temporaneously with  the  development  of  the  clan,  religion 
entered  into  the  stage  of  naive  anthropomorphic  or  anthropo- 
pathic  religions.  Such  a  development  was  inevitable  for 
people  sufficiently  constructive  to  become  a  part  of  the  main 
current  of  civilization.  All  others,  like  the  Black  Fellows 
of  Australia,  preserve  the  religious  ideas  in  forms  as  primitive 
as  their  civilizations.  Such  personification,  however,  does 
not  seem  to  have  proceeded  uniformly.  In  some  cases  a  tribe 
would  have  as  its  own  a  god  who  is  the  personification  of 
some  natural  force,  and  would  worship  him  by  attributing  to 
hirii  those  qualities  which,  thanks  to  its  social  development, 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  41 

the  tribe  as  a  whole  beheved  to  be  the  most  ideal.  Without 
exception  these  tribal  gods  are  regarded  as  normally  in  a 
state  of  reconciliation  with  the  tribe.  Generally  they  are 
regarded  as  the  fathers  of  their  tribes.  In  other  words,  they 
are  beheved  to  partake  of  the  same  elemental  quahty  as 
primitive  civilization  itself.  They  are,  however,  subject  to 
paroxysms  of  anger,  evidenced  by  the  defeat  of  the  tribe  in 
battle,  by  the  outbreak  of  disease,  and  by  various  other  mis- 
fortunes. In  such  cases  they  must  be  placated  by  gifts.  In 
this  we  see  one  of  the  various  contributing  influences  that 
made  sacrifice  a  social  institution,  although  there  are  other 
influences  quite  as  powerful.  At  other  times  a  god  appears  to 
be  particularly  favorable,  in  that  he  sends  good  weather  and 
good  fortune.  At  such  times  his  kindness  needs  to  be  appre- 
ciated by  gifts.  Thus  arises  the  sort  of  sacrifice  which  is 
not  intended  to  appease  the  tribal  god,  but  to  thank  him  for 
his  help.     In  this  all  members  of  a  tribe  partake. 

But  the  most  essential  element  in  the  tribal  religion  is  the 
conception  of  the  god  as  the  supreme  chieftain  of  the  tribe. 
It  is  true  that  he  is  not  beheved  to  appear  frequently,  but 
that  at  critical  moments  some  member  is  likely  to  see  him  and 
get  some  word  of  encouragement  or  warning.  Further,  there 
have  been  few  peoples  who  have  attained  to  the  tribal  form 
of  society  in  which  there  has  not  been  some  particular  person 
or  family  regarded  as  in  some  way  the  god's  particular  repre- 
sentative. Such  persons  instructed  the  tribe  as  to  the  will  of 
the  god,  served  as  priests,  and,  under  the  god's  direction, 
established  great  feasts  of  which  the  god  partakes.  Probably 
at  this  point  we  find  the  most  important  contributing  source 
of  sacrifice.  The  social  group  includes  the  god,  and  he  shares 
in  the  experiences  of  the  tribe,  be  they  sad  or  joyous.  And 
it  should  be  noted  that  the  rites  of  religions  had  their  origin  in 
the  enjoyment  of  life  as  truly  as  in  its  misery  and  fear.  Men 
thought  of  the  gods  as  their  companions  as  truly  as  their 
judges. 


42  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

This  tribal  god  in  some  tribes  may,  so  to  speak,  be  assisted 
by  a  number  of  secondary  gods,  but  polytheism  is  not  neces- 
sarily an  element  of  tribal  religion,  and  even  when  a  tribe 
worships  several  gods  it  is  likely  to  have  one  particularly 
its  own.  In  fact,  as  the  tribal  civilization  developed  it  would 
seem  as  if,  in  many  cases,  particularly  among  the  Semites 
and  the  Aryans,  there  were  two  classes  of  gods — those 
which  represent  the  material  forces  more  or  less  personi- 
fied and  constitute  a  sort  of  super-divine  body  of  deities  to 
whom  worship  is  to  be  paid  as  the  final  sources  of  good  for- 
tune, and,  along  with  these,  so  to  speak,  the  working  class 
among  the  gods.  Other  tribes  carry  along  with  their  single 
tribal  god  a  phase  of  magic  which  may  be  said  to  be  the  sur- 
vival of  some  more  primitive  religious  practice.  Similarly, 
customs,  the  meaning  of  which  has  long  been  forgotten ,  may  be 
carried  along  as  essential  elements  of  a  developing  religion.  So 
important  may  these  customs  become  as  to  give  almost  its  full 
content  to  the  religion. 

c)  Monarchical  religion. — The  fact  that  the  tribal  god 
was  regarded  as,  so  to  speak,  the  responsible  party  in  tribal 
history  led  to  another  phase  of  religion,  the  monarchical. 
Such  a  term  is  at  best  unsatisfactory,  but  it  serves  to  indicate 
how  the  thought  of  God  develops  by  the  extension  to  him  of 
new  political  conceptions.  The  national  god  must  be  superior 
to  the  tribal  chieftain.  As  a  chieftain  developed  in  power  by 
conquest  so  as  to  extend  the  power  of  the  tribe  over  other 
tribes,  it  has  been  all  but  uniformly  true  that  the  tribal  god 
was  regarded  as  victorious  over  the  gods  of  the  conquered 
tribes.  Thus,  as  the  tribe  itself  through  conquest  became 
the  head  of  a  quasi-nation,  the  god  became  a  conquering 
monarch.  But  it  did  not  at  all  follow  that  the  tribe  which 
had  been  absorbed  or  conquered  would  give  up  its  god.  It 
might  continue  to  worship  him  in  the  hope  that  ultimately 
he  would  assert  himself  and  give  deliverance  to  his  people. 
Or,  on  the  other  hand,  as  the  tribe  was  incorporated  into  a  new 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  43 

political  entity,  its  god  might  become  a  member  of  the  royal 
court  of  the  supreme  God.  There  is  many  a  nation  whose 
religious  history  shows  the  struggle  between  the  worship  of 
the  two  sets  of  deities.  Thus  we  find,  in  the  history  of  Israel, 
a  long  succession  of  struggles  between  the  worship  of  Jehovah 
and  that  of  the  Baalim  and  the  Syrian  gods  of  the  high  places 
belonging  to  the  conquered  Canaanites.  This  struggle  is 
likely  to  be  particularly  violent  when  the  two  sets  of  gods  are 
brought  together,  not  by  war  or  conquest,  but  by  the  inter- 
mingling of  civilizations. 

For  conquest  is  not  the  only  source  of  the  development  of 
the  king  god.  Political  development  as  such  leads  to  this 
more  developed  conception.  It  may  often  be  that  a  number 
of  tribes  have  the  same  god.  These  may  federate,  as  in  the 
tribes  of  Israel,  religion  being  the  sole  or  at  least  the  chief  bond 
of  the  political  unity.  But  even  such  federation  is  not  neces- 
sary for  the  development  of  the  idea  of  God.  The  trans- 
formation of  the  tribe  from  nomadic  to  agricultural  life  has 
been  accompanied  by  a  transformation  of  the  conception  of  a 
god  and  has  given  him  new  attributes,  as  in  Zoroastrianism. 
Sometimes  this  addition  has  been  made  through  the  religious 
teachers  or  the  priests;  sometimes  it  has  been  unconsciously 
due  to  the  rise  of  new  economic  conceptions  born  of  social 
evolution.  As  the  agricultural  stage  of  social  evolution  has 
passed  into  the  commercial  and  urban,  the  new  powers  of  the 
chieftains  have  been  used  as  media  for  shaping  new  preroga- 
tives for  the  god.  His  relations  have  become  less  those  of  the 
father  of  the  family  and  more  those  of  the  king,  increasingly  po- 
litical and  forensic.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that,  in  the  case 
of  all  tribes  whose  development  we  can  trace  across  the  various 
stages  of  social  evolution,  the  idea  of  monarchy,  which  has 
characterized  some  period  of  every  developed  society,  however 
different  its  social  institutions  may  have  been,  has  also  colored 
religions.  The  god  is  not  subject  to  the  will  of  the  people;  the 
people  and  their  material  environment  are  to  obey  him. 


44  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Obedience  to  his  law  becomes  thus  a  condition  of  his  rendering 
his  people  aid. 

d)  The  higher  development  of  monarchical  religion. — At 
this  point  the  really  great  religions  have  made  two  important 
transitions : 

1.  The  superhuman  monarch  of  the  tribe  has  come  to  Be 
regarded  as  the  superhuman  monarch  of  the  world,  the  king 
of  creation.  It  has  not  followed  that  all  the  other  gods  have 
been  regarded  as  non-existent,  for  in  many  cases  they  have 
been  treated  as  devils  or  saints.  But  the  passage  to  genuine 
monotheism  can,  not  infrequently,  be  traced  through  this 
monarchical  stage. 

The  divine  monarch  is  supreme  over  human  subjects.  He 
arranges  nature.  The  thunder  is  his  voice,  the  wind  his 
messenger,  the  earthquake  the  creature  of  his  will.  Men 
begin  to  think  of  him  philosophically,  and  so  transcendental 
may  the  thought  of  him  become  that  the  effort  to  realize 
the  now  supreme  and  increasingly  ethical  conception  of  his 
character  gives  rise  to  a  genuine  if  naive  theology. 

2.  The  second  transition  has  been  the  moral  elevation 
of  the  idea  of  God.  This  change  has  been  the  work  of  the 
prophet.  In  primitive  religion  the  prophet  in  any  true  sense 
of  the  word  is  unknown.  There  are  only  medicine  men, 
necromancers,  witches,  and  the  like.  But  few  peoples  ever 
come  to  the  universal  monarchy  conception  of  their  god 
without  seeing  in  him  the  standard  of  morality.  If  such  a 
transition  is  impossible,  a  new  god  is  adopted  as  the  new 
conscience  needs  a  more  sensitively  moral  god.  If,  as  in  the 
case  of  classical  mythology,  gods  are  past  reformation,  they 
are  pensioned  off  with  conventional  honors  and  allowed  to 
pass  into  innocuous  desuetude  on  some  mountain  where 
their  example  will  not  injure  the  morals  of  young  people.  In 
the  extent  of  this  moral  idealization  of  its  idea  of  God  the 
Hebrew  religion  is  unique.  It  seems  to  have  passed  through 
the  earlier  stages  of  religious  evolution;  but  this  eventuated,  as 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  45 

in  no  other  religion,  in  a  monarch  of  absolute  righteousness, 
hating  iniquity.  That  this  is  the  case  is  due  to  the  work  of 
the  prophets  who,  from  an  exceptional  religious  experience, 
taught  an  unwilling  nation  ideals  that  were  to  serve  as  the 
basis  of  the  non-monarchical  ethical  religion  of  Jesus. 

This  monarchical  conception  has  given  rise  to  the  most 
precise  theologies.  It  is  easy  to  see  why.  Political  experi- 
ence is  so  universal,  political  institutions  are  so  subject  to  legal 
adjustment,  and  legal  analogies  are  so  intelligible,  that  it 
has  been  comparatively  easy  to  systematize  religious  relations 
under  the  general  rubrics  of  statecraft.  Thus  righteousness 
has  been  thought  of  as  the  observance  of  the  laws  of  the  god, 
given  through  divinely  inspired  teachers,  and  punishment  has 
been  attached  to  the  violation  of  such  laws  in  precisely  the 
same  way  as  to  the  violation  of  laws  of  the  king.  The  pardon- 
ing of  sins  has  been  a  royal  prerogative,  although  sometimes 
needing  justification  in  the  way  of  vicarious  suffering  by  some 
competent  sacrificial  animal  or  person,  while  the  rewards  of 
the  righteous  have  been  pictured  by  figures  drawn  from  the 
triumphs  of  earthly  kings,  just  as  in  primitive  societies  the 
future  has  been  regarded  as  the  "happy  hunting-ground." 

3.  Only  a  few  religions  have  as  yet  progressed  beyond  the 
monarchical  stage.  In  Brahmanism  religion  has  been  denied 
content  and  direction  by  an  impersonal  cosmic  philosophy, 
and  two  of  the  three  great  religions  of  Semitic  origin — Judaism 
and  Christianity— have  moved  over  into  a  quasi-transcen- 
dental personal  sphere.  But  the  theologies  of  even  these 
religions  have  been  developed  on  the  monarchical  analogy. 
This  is  particularly  true  of  Christianity  as  the  flowering  of 
Hebrew  religion  through  the  introduction  of  the  personal 
experiences  of  Jesus. 

Literature. — See  the  references  given  above  (p.  37).  For  more 
philosophical  treatment,  see  also  Fiske,  The  Idea  of  God  as  Affected  by 
Modern  Knowledge  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1885);  Wester- 
marck,  The  Origin  and  Development  of  the  Moral  Ideas,  2  vols.  (London: 
Macmillan,  1906  and  1908);   Hocking,  The  Meaning  of  God  in  Human 


46  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Experience  (New  Haven:  Yale  University  Press,  191 2);  and  Gwatkin, 
The  Knowledge  of  God  and  Its  Historical  Development  (Edinburgh: 
Clark,  1906). 

C,    THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  RELIGIOUS  DOCTRINES 

Theology  deals  primarily  with  experience,  and  experience 
is  far  more  extensive  than  rational  processes.  Theology 
arises  when  men  undertake  to  organize  their  inherited  and 
new  religious  experiences,  beliefs,  and  customs  in  harmony 
with  other  elements  of  experience,  and  thus  to  satisfy  their 
deepest  spiritual  need  for  unity  between  their  faith  and 
their  knowledge  of  the  universe.  The  organizing  principle 
is  all  but  invariably  dramatic,  a  presupposition  born  of  social 
experience  which  the  community  producing  the  theology  has 
unconsciously  accepted  as  a  basis  of  social  activity  and  the 
standard  of  social  values.  Most  frequently  such  an  organiz- 
ing principle  is  that  already  operative  in  the  state.  A  second, 
or  apologetic,  period  begins  when  men  undertake  to  defend 
their  right  to  hold  religious  behefs  by  means  of  appropriating 
current  elements  of  culture.  The  creative  and  the  apologetic 
stages  of  theology  are  indispensable,  but  the  former  is  primarily 
social,  the  latter  philosophical. 

Mythology,  philosophy,  and  theology. — Religion  is  per- 
sonal, but  it  is  also  a  phase  of  social  experience.  Although  by 
no  means  to  be  identified  with  social  custom,  its  develop- 
ment involves  such  custom,  and  particularly  the  preser- 
vation of  tribal  sanctions  for  various  social  activities.  Yet 
to  limit  religion  to  merely  social  experience  and  to  make  God 
a  symbol  of  an  authoritative  totality  of  social  experience  is 
to  neglect  outstanding  elements  of  personality  and  its  relations. 
Religion  is  a  word  of  experience,  but  it  has  a  correlate  in  an 
extra-experiential  reality  which  is  a  dominating  factor  in  the 
situation  out  of  which  religion  develops.  To  eliminate  an 
objective  God  from  religion  is  as  illogical  as  to  eliminate  the 
soil  and  air  from  the  life  of  a  plant.     A  theology  in  the  nature 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  47 

of  the  case  must  therefore  contam  its  meta-experiential  ele- 
ments. A  pragmatic  view  of  the  world  is  highly  fruitful  for 
the  discussion  of  the  psychological  and  social  aspects  of 
religion,  but  it  is  not  sufficient  for  a  theology  which  shall 
include  the  cosmic  processes  in  which  men  find  themselves. 

But  after  this  has  been  admitted  it  still  remains  true  that 
the  first  creative  attempts  to  rationalize  religious  experience 
into  harmony  with  elements  of  culture  have  not  found  their 
organizing  principles  in  metaphysical  processes.  Meta- 
physical treatment  of  religion  has  always  been  a  second  or 
even  third  stage  in  the  rationalizing  process.  Prior  to  it  are 
mythology  and  theology,  each  structurally  dramatic. 

a)  Mythology  as  a  means  of  interpreting  religion. — Recent 
discussions  in  the  history  of  religion  have  made  evident  the 
fact  that  mythology  has  played  no  inconsiderable  part  in 
the  early  stages  of  religious  development.  Myths  might  be 
described  as  a  method  of  combining  rationalized  religious 
aspiration  with  observed  cosmic  phenomena  by  the  use  of 
elementary  experience,  generally  of  individuals  rather  than 
of  groups.  In  this,  mythology  differs  from  theology,  which 
organizes  religious  thought  on  more  genuinely  social  concepts 
than  combats,  love-making,  and  individual  careers.  In  the 
case  of  practically  all  religions,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Christian  and  other  religions,  like  Mohammedanism,  which 
have  been  derived  from  the  Bible,  the  philosophical  stage 
followed  immediately  upon  the  mythological  and  served  to 
destroy  confidence  in  the  myth,  even  when,  as  in  Greece, 
mythology  continued  as  a  form  of  popular  religion  long 
after  Plato  and  Aristotle  had  all  but  universalized  the  philo- 
sophical attitude  of  mind. 

In  the  case  of  the  Hebrew  religion,  whatever  may  have 
been  its  roots  in  early  Semitic  thought,  it  is  all  but  impossible 
to  discover  any  period  of  myth  within  its  biblical  stage.  Both 
in  it  and  in  Christianity  religious  syncretism,  it  is  true,  did  to 
some  extent  show  itself,  as  in  the  influence  of  Baal-worship 


48  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

upon  the  Hebrews  and  in  the  appropriation  of  pagan  customs 
and  institutions  on  the  part  of  the  Christians.  But  Hebraism 
in  its  constructive  principle  was  germinally  monotheistic. 
It  never  was  characterized  by  the  mass  of  mythological 
details  which  most  polytheistic  religions  have  included. 
Hebraism  used  for  its  structural  religious  ideas  not  the  adven- 
tures of  individuals,  as  classical  mythology  did,  but  the 
universalizing  conception  of  monarchy.  Zeus  was  never  a 
lawgiver,  but  Yahweh's  relations  with  his  people  were  always 
those  between  a  king  and  his  subjects.  That  is  to  say,  the 
material  of  Hebrew  religious  thought,  while  like  mythology  in 
being  dramatic  rather  than  philosophical,  was  organized 
about  an  essentially  political  experience. 

Literature. — See  Fiske,  Myths  and  Mythmakers,  (Boston:  Osgood, 
1873;   3d  ed.,  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1900). 

b)  The  relation  between  theology  and  philosophy.— A  dis- 
tinction between  theology  and  philosophy  is  hard  to  draw  in 
terms  of  definition,  for  both  alike  seek  to  give  some  sort  of 
unity  to  the  highest  thought  of  mankind.  Furthermore, 
philosophy,  like  theology,  is  largely  conditioned  by  social 
experience.  Of  the  two,  philosophy  is  by  far  the  more  fre- 
quent framework  for  religious  thought.  Indeed,  one  might 
even  say  that  there  never  has  been  but  one  well-rounded 
theology,  namely,  that  which  has  been  produced  by  the  Chris- 
tian thought  of  Western  Europe.  The  other  great  religions 
which  have  used  bibhcal  material  have  resembled  Western 
orthodoxy  to  some  extent,  but  in  the  case  of  Mohammedanism 
and  Judaism  no  theological  system  in  any  way  comparable 
with  that  even  of  the  arrested  theology  of  the  Eastern  church 
has  been  developed.  Yet  practically  all  religions  have  had 
their  philosophies,  and  in  some  cases,  notably  in  Hinduism 
and  the  religion  of  Egypt,  there  has  often  been  developed 
an  esoteric  system  of  teaching  for  the  cultured  classes  along- 
side of  gross  superstitions  among  the  masses.  Western 
Christianity  has,  it  is  true,  developed  its  secondary  form  in 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  49 

the  practices  of  the  Roman  church;  but  this  secondary  Chris- 
tianity has  always  become  at  length  organically  embodied  in  a 
real  theology,  the  subject-matter  of  which  is  the  relationship 
of  God  and  humanity,  and  which  is  only  apologetically  cos- 
mological  or  metaphysical. 

Further,  while  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  formally  between 
theology  and  philosophy,  the  content  and  tendency  of  the  two 
show  marked  differences.  Philosophy  as  it  has  existed  in  the 
Western  world  has  been  concerned  primarily  with  the  con- 
struction of  some  world- view  which  finds  its  unity  in  a  general 
conception  such  as  the  ideas  of  Plato  and  the  idea  of  Hegel. 
Once  having  gained  such  an  a  priori  principle,  instead  of 
working  toward  experience,  it  has  by  a  process  of  abstraction 
worked  away  from  experience.  In  the  place  of  personal  rela- 
tions it  has  substituted  those  of  logic.  Pragmatism,  it  is  true, 
is  an  exception  to  this  general  tendency,  but  pragmatism 
itself  is  more  concerned  with  the  problems  of  reality  and  knowl- 
edge than  with  the  systematic  presentation  of  the  relations  of 
man  and  God  as  theology  conceives  them.  And  there  is  a 
further  distinction  between  pragmatism  and  theology  in  that 
theology  cannot  be  content  to  find  its  subject-matter  wholly 
in  the  region  of  experience.  Theology,  since  its  subject- 
matter  is  primarily  religion,  must  always  involve  a  meta- 
physical reality,  and  above  all  emphasize  relations  between 
God  and  men. 

A  comparison  of  philosophies  with  theology  will  show  still 
another  difference.  Whereas  the  organizing,  unifying  prin- 
ciples of  philosophy  are,  with  the  exception  of  those  of  prag- 
matism, in  the  realm  of  the  meta-experiential,  in  the  case  of 
theology  the  unifying  principle  is  some  presupposition  which 
determines  social  experience  as  a  whole.  In  giving  form  and 
rational  acceptability  to  its  formulations  the  theology  of  the 
schools  has  utilized  dominant  philosophies,  but  this  process 
belongs  to  the  second  rather  than  to  the  original  and  creative 
stratum  of   the   organizing  process.    A   theological  system, 


50  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

as  distinguished  from  its  amplification,  has  sprung  from  the 
same  subconscious  social  mind  as  that  from  which  has  sprung 
political  theory.  Interaction  between  politics  and  theology 
is  always  to  be  noted,  but  neither  is  strictly  the  origin  of  the 
other.  The  parallelism  between  the  two  is  due  to  their  com- 
mon origin.  It  is  this  fact  that  in  part  explains  the  survival 
in  highly  developed  types  of  theology  of  those  concepts  which 
are  fully  intelligible  only  when  they  are  historically  valued  as 
drawn  from  the  experience  of  different  economic  and  political 
stages  through  which  the  people  creating  the  theology  have 
passed  in  its  development. 

Such  a  fact  is  easily  appreciated.  Theology  is  essentially 
concerned  with  relations  or  situations  in  which  man  and  God 
are  both  involved.  But  to  describe  relations  men  inevitably 
make  use  of  relations  already  in  experience.  In  religion  men 
seek  help;  they  justify  that  search  by  the  use  of  those  cate- 
gories of  social  experience  in  which  help  has  already  been 
found  and  its  methods  of  operation  organized.  And,  further- 
more, a  religion  and  its  consequent  theology  has  been  the 
possession  of  a  total  group  like  the  church,  and  has  conse- 
quently relied  upon  customs,  rites,  and  ceremonies  as  embody- 
ing its  truths. 

Such  control  exercised  by  the  non-religious  presuppositions 
of  social  experience  over  a  theological  system,  whether  it  be 
simple  or  highly  developed,  is  inevitable,  since  such  a  system 
is  only  one  phase  of  a  social  mind.  A  philosophical  treatment 
of  religion,  and  particularly  a  philosophy  of  religion,  are  always 
likely  to  overlook  this  fact  because  of  their  tendency  to  deal 
with  concepts  abstracted  from  experience.  But  speaking 
strictly,  there  is  no  history  of  doctrine ;  there  is  only  the  history 
of  men  who  hold  doctrines.  A  ''doctrinal  man"  is  as  impos- 
sible as  an  "  economic  man."  Theology  has  been  even  slower 
than  political  economy  to  recognize  this  fact;  but  as  soon  as 
the  doctrine-making  process  is  seen  to  be  only  one  phase  of  an 
evolving  civilization,  its  social  aspect  at  once  appears  clear. 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  51 

and  the  approach  to  theology  is  seen  to  be  through  history 
and  group-Hfe  rather  than  through  philosophy.  Indeed,  it 
may  be  said  that  when  philosophy  becomes  dominant  in 
theology  the  period  of  creative  theology,  like  the  period  of 
creative  mythology,  has  closed. 

D.    THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE 
I.      THE   CREATIVE    SOCIAL  MIND 

Occidental  civilization  has  resulted  from  the  genetic 
succession  of  several  creative  social  minds.  These  social 
minds  have  been  the  outcome  of  social  experience  of  various 
sorts.  Christianity,  as  a  developing  religion  by  which  men 
of  different  grades  of  culture  have  sought  to  gain  help  from 
God  in  accord  with  the  teaching  and  person  of  Jesus  Christ, 
has  appropriated  and  built  into  itself  these  dominant  social 
minds,  which  in  turn  have  been  expressions  of  creative  social 
forces.  As  social  experience  varies  new  intellectual  con- 
cepts result.  Doctrine-making,  when  analyzed,  is  the  group- 
formulation  or  modification  of  inherited  religious  beliefs  in 
accordance  with  these  new  concepts,  for  the  purpose  of  vin- 
dicating and  directing  religious  self-expression.  Generally 
such  formulation  gives  birth  to  but  one  doctrine  in  an  epoch. 

To  put  the  matter  more  distinctly,  theology  is  the  out- 
growth of  the  needs  of  religion  for  intellectual  expression. 
Wherever  religion  is  practiced,  it  is  forced  to  meet  the  needs  set 
by  the  social  life  of  those  to  whom  it  ministers.  In  the  nature 
of  the  case,  the  satisfaction  of  these  needs,  as  well  as  the 
needs  themselves,  are  determined  by  the  habits  and  thought 
and  social  activity  of  any  given  epoch.  Religious  doubts  or 
religious  controversies,  which  have  been  the  usual  occasion 
of  doctrinal  growth,  have  in  general  sprung  from  the  tension  of 
soul  resulting  from  the  failure  of  inherited  religious  formulas 
to  meet  needs  set  by  the  dominant  and  creative  social  minds. 
The  doctrines  of   Christianity   have   thus  been  religiously 


52  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

functional  rather  than  absolute,  and  the  development  of 
Christianity  has  thus  inevitably  been  a  social  process. 

The  fact  that  in  the  midst  of  these  successive  social  minds 
Christianity  has  proceeded  in  a  definite  direction,  and  has 
bred  true  to  itself,  is  an  argument  that  a  generic  but  not 
absolutely  and  finally  formulated  Christianity  is  to  be  found 
by  a  study  of  the  successive  periods  of  creative  theological 
thought.  Such  periods  are  epochs  of  that  genetically  related 
creative  activity  which  has  expressed  itself  in  the  successive 
social  minds  which  have  constituted  the  continuous  stream  of 
Western  history.  A  nation  without  social  development  natu- 
rally has  no  developing  theology. 

The  relation  of  doctrine  to  the  creative  social  mind  from 
which  both  the  new  religious  needs  and  their  satisfaction 
spring  is  not  quite  as  simple,  however,  as  what  has  been  said 
might  imply.  While  a  social  mind  has  been  formulating  the 
particular  doctrine  demanded  by  the  same  new  creative  social 
impulse,  it  has  usually  accepted  and  defended  other  doctrines 
which  it  has  inherited  from  a  long  line  of  predecessors.  Thus 
new  doctrines  appear  only  at  what  might  be  called  the  tension- 
points  of  intellectual  and  social  progress.  These,  however, 
are  not,  strictly  speaking,  inventions,  but  the  organization  of 
truths  already  held  implicitly  in  the  Christian  religion,  much 
as  elements  of  a  developing  civilization  are  implicit  in  its 
fundamental  genius. 

Quite  as  important  is  the  further  fact  that  just  as  some 
persons  have  alternating  personalities,  so  most  epochs  have 
more  than  one  social  mind.  In  fact,  much  of  the  progress  of 
history  is  due  to  the  conflict  between  these  social  minds,  each 
of  which  has  tended  to  shape  up  some  characteristic  religious 
expression. 

These  counter  social  minds  express  the  social  experience 
of  minorities  unproductive  of  immediate  historical  develop- 
ment.    When  expressing  themselves  in  theology,  they  have 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  53 

given  rise  to  the  opposition  theologies  which  have  been  side- 
tracked into  the  Kmbo  of  heresy.  The  fact  that  the  developing 
system  of  Christian  teaching  which  we  call  orthodoxy  per- 
sisted was  not  due  to  any  superficial  causes  like  persecution  or 
state  support.  These  indeed  were  agents,  but  the  funda- 
mental explanation  why  one  doctrine  rather  than  another 
triumphed  during  moments  of  creative  struggle  is  that  it 
served  better  than  the  other  the  needs  begotten  by  the  con- 
tinuously developing  and  dominant  social  experience.  Could, 
for  example,  true  progress  in  social  development,  any  more 
than  in  theology,  ever  have  resulted  from  social  minds  which 
could  have  been  satisfied  with  gnosticism  or  the  essential 
polytheism  of  Arius  or  the  atomistic  philosophy  of  Pelagius  ? 
Counter-theologies  have  been  valuable  because  they  each  have 
recognized  something  not  included  in  the  theology  which 
ministered  directly  to  the  dominant  social  mind;  but,  despite 
common  belief  regarding  heresies,  they  have  never  become 
some  future  orthodoxy.  These  theologies  failed  to  function 
directly  in  the  actual  course  of  development  of  both  society 
and  Christianity.  At  the  best  they  were  of  influence  only  as 
contributing  causes  of  new  social  minds. 

These  counter-theologies  or  heresies  failed  to  persist  for 
two  reasons:  they  did  not  tend  toward  the  increasing 
knowledge  of  reality;  and,  however  much  influence  they 
may  have  had  in  affecting  the  course  of  the  development 
of  orthodoxy,  they  have  not  satisfied  the  religious  needs  set 
by  the  dominant  social  minds  which  determined  the  main 
course  of  history. 

Only  those  Christian  conceptions  for  which  the  genetically 
connected  dominant  social  minds  of  successive  periods  have 
shown  affinity  have  given  the  real  content  to  our  growing 
religion.  In  them,  as  by  a  sort  of  Mendelian  formula,  the 
generic  quality  of  Christianity  is  to  be  found.  Dominant 
traits  alone  have  persisted  in  vigor. 


54  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

2.      THE    CREATIVE    SOCIAL    MINDS    WHICH    HAVE    MADE    OCCI- 
DENTAL HISTORY 

The  creative  social  minds  which  have  made  Occidental 
history  during  this  Christian  era  are  the  Semitic,  which  gave 
us  the  New  Testament  and  the  messianic  drama;  the  Hellen- 
istic, which  gave  us  ecumenical  dogma;  the  imperialistic, 
which  gave  us  the  doctrine  of  sin  and  the  Roman  church; 
the  feudal,  which  gave  us  the  first  real  theory  of  atonement; 
the  national,  which  gave  us  Protestantism;  the  bourgeois, 
which  gave  us  modern  evangelicalism;  and  the  modern  or 
scientific-democratic  mind,  which  must  give  us  the  theology 
of  tomorrow.  It  is  not  without  importance  that  each  of 
these  dominant  social  minds  has  had  its  particular  place  of 
birth.  Syria,  the  Hellenistic  territory.  Western  Europe, 
Germany,  England,  and  America  have  each  been  the  home 
of  one  of  these  social  minds  which  have  resulted  in  doctrinal 
development.  And  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  Western 
movement  of  our  civilization  may  yet  add  still  another  phase 
of  social  as  well  as  doctrinal  development — the  cosmopolitan- 
fraternal,  which,  so  far  as  the  church  is  concerned,  will  find  its 
birthplace  in  Asia. 

a)  The  contribution  of  the  Semitic  social  mind  to  Christian 
theology. — Christianity  considered  theologically  perpetuates 
the  transcendental  politics  of  the  Hebrew.  Sovereignty  and 
subjects,  law  and  judgment,  punishment  and  rehabilitation, 
these  great  rubrics  which  express  the  presuppositions  con- 
trolling the  highest  social  activity  of  the  Hebrew,  became 
the  skeleton  of  their  religious  thought.  Christianity  springs 
genetically,  however,  not  directly  from  the  Hebraism  of  the 
Old  Testament,  but  from  the  Judaism  of  New  Testament 
times.  Its  principles  are  those  of  Hebraism  re-expressed  in 
the  messianic  hope. 

How  far  Christianity  at  its  start  was  from  being  a  phi- 
losophy appears  not  only  from  the  teaching  of  Jesus  but  also 
from  the  expressed  hostility  of  Paul  to  what  he  called  "the 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  55 

wisdom  of  this  world,"  a  hostility  which  was  vigorously  urged 
by  such  church  Fathers  as  Tertullian.  The  latter's  treatise, 
The  Prescription  of  Heretics,  is  a  plea  for  the  supremacy  of  a 
dramatic  theology  as  over  against  a  philosophy.  But  neither 
Paul  nor  Tertullian  was  apart  from  other  Christian  writers. 
The  theology  to  which  they  held  was  the  limit  within  which 
philosophically  minded  Christians  like  Justin  and  Origen 
debated.  This  theology  epitomized  in  regidafidei  was  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  a  transcendentalized  theory  of  that  con- 
ception of  government  which  was  an  unconscious  but  deter- 
minative presupposition  of  the  entire  social  life  of  the  ancient 
world.  And  its  schema  was  the  messianism  which  had  been 
brought  over  from  Judaism. 

Messianism  undoubtedly  had  deep  roots  which  must  be 
traced  back  into  the  hopes  and  mythologies  of  ancient  nations, 
particularly  those  of  Baylonia  and  Persia,  whose  civilizations 
had  affected  Judaism.  But  there  is  no  chief  root  that  does 
not  finally  end  in  social  practice.  However  great  or,  as  it 
seems  to  me  more  probable,  however  slight  may  have  been  the 
role  of  the  Gilgamesh  epic  in  Jewish  messianism,  it  is  colored 
by  the  political  habits  of  the  age  in  which  it  arose.  Similarly 
in  the  case  of  the  influence  of  the  Persian  religion.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  relative  importance  of  the  reciprocal  influ- 
ence of  Mazdaism  and  Hebraism,  the  outcome  in  either  case 
was  a  religious  hope  that  involved  transcendental  politics. 

The  Jewish  messianic  hope  passed  through  two  stages,  both 
formally  political.  In  the  first  the  Jews  believed  that  Yahweh 
would  re-establish  through  ordinary  methods  the  Jewish 
state  as  supreme  over  all  its  enemies;  and  in  the  second  they 
hoped  that  the  same  triumphant  nation  would  be  established, 
not  in  the  ordinary  course  of  history,  but  by  the  miraculous 
intervention  of  God  through  his  Anointed.  Messianism  is  as 
truly  political  in  its  transcendental  as  in  its  politico-revolu- 
tionary stage.  A  sovereign  God  who  seeks  to  establish  his 
Kingdom  by  the  conquest  of  the  rival  kingdom  of  Satan;    a 


56  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

vice-gerent  through  whom  the  divine  sovereign  works  and  who 
is  to  conquer  the  hostile  kingdom  and  estabhsh  the  Kingdom 
of  God  in  which  the  law  of  God  is  to  be  established;  a  new 
age  in  which  God  is  to  be  the  supreme  sovereign  and  his  people 
supremely  blessed  while  the  arch-antagonist  is  bound  and 
punished  with  his  followers;  a  day  of  judgment  in  which  the 
triumphant  king  metes  out  the  fate  of  all  mankind  in  accord- 
ance with  its  loyalty  or  disloyalty — these  are  the  fundamental 
elements  of  the  program  of  messianism.  The  resurrection 
simply  assured  the  disposition  of  all  mankind  in  the  final 
world-order.  It  requires  no  argument  to  show  that  this 
schema  is  fundamental  to  Christian  theology,  and  that  it  is 
indeed  the  organizing  principle  of  theology  as  it  subsequently 
was  developed  in  the  Western  world  and  less  imperfectly 
in  the  Greek  church.  Whatever  else  philosophy  may  have 
accomplished  in  the  development  of  doctrine,  it  has  never 
obscured  these  fundamental  rubrics  which  were  carried  over 
into  religion  from  the  social  presuppositions  on  which  the 
ancient  civilization  was  ultimately  based.  Indeed,  Christian 
theology  as  an  organized  system  might  be  described  as  the 
philosophical  expansion  of  a  political  dramatic  scenario  in 
which  the  future  and  present  relations  of  men  and  God  are 
set  forth  in  terms  drawn  from  the  political  experience  of  the 
Jewish  people. 

Literature. — On  the  messianic  hope,  see  Schiirer,  Jewish  People 
in  the  Time  of  Jesus  Christ,  III,  §  29  (New  York:  Scribner,  1891); 
Mathews,  The  Messianic  Hope  in  the  New  Testament,  Part  I  (Chicago: 
University  of  Chicago  Press,  1905). 

b)  Some  non-political  elements  in  New  Testament 
thought. — At  two  points  this  schema  is  modified  in  the  New 
Testament  and  by  later  writers  by  the  addition  of  non-political 
elements,  which  are  really  the  most  essential  in  Christianity. 
There  is  first  the  spiritual  experience  of  the  Christian.  This  is 
in  turn  twofold.  Those  phenomena  which  are  called  in  the 
New  Testament  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  have  never  been 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  57 

thoroughly  worked  into  orthodoxy  and  have  always  been 
emphasized  among  groups  (e.g.,  the  Montanists)  who  have 
been  to  a  considerable  degree  regarded  as  heretical.  The 
reason  is  very  plain.  The  general  schema  of  historical  ortho- 
doxy is  transcendental  politics  redefined  by  the  use  of  other 
elements  of  social  experience  and  rationalized  in  detail  by 
current  philosophy.  In  such  a  schema  there  is  no  room  for 
mysticism.     That  must  always  be  extra-orthodox. 

Yet  the  second  sort  of  spiritual  experience,  the  actual 
transformation  of  the  believer  by  God,  has  always  been  empha- 
sized by  theology.  In  Greek  Christianity  this  element  played 
a  very  large  role.  We  see  it  in  the  "recapitulation"  by  Jesus, 
so  attractive  to  Irenaeus,  and  even  more  in  the  conception  of 
salvation  as  the  theizing  of  human  nature  into  incorruption. 
At  one  time  it  even  bade  fair  to  become  the  organizing  prin- 
ciple for  an  entire  system.  But  the  development  of  Greek 
theology  was  arrested  in  its  christological  epoch,  and  Western 
theology  became  so  far  committed  to  a  forensic  outline  of 
teaching  that  the  saving  transformation  of  the  believer  was 
attached  to  the  idea  of  the  church  and  its  sacraments  instead 
of  being  allowed  to  organize  Christian  teaching  into  a  vital 
system.  Yet  it  has  always  persisted  in  Western  theology 
as  a  sort  of  parallel  orthodoxy.  If  it  instead  of  the  messianic 
drama  had  become  really  central  in  orthodoxy,  doctrinal 
development  would  have  been  far  more  vital  and  less  authori- 
tative. In  modern  theology  this  spiritual  and  vital  element 
is  assuming  a  new  importance  and  constitutes  one  of  the  great 
constructive  principles  for  a  theology  which  shall  be  more  in 
accord  with  the  presuppositions  of  modern  social  life  so 
radically  different  from  those  expressed  in  absolute  monarchy. 
Completely  outside  of  the  inherited  messianic  drama,  it  is 
essential  Christianity  itself. 

A  second  element,  too  Httle  used  by  orthodoxy  because 
it  also  lies  outside  of  the  politico-religious  drama  of  messian- 
ism,  is  the  experience  of  Jesus  himself.    All  theologians,  it  is 


58  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

true,  have  generalized  this  element  of  historical  Christianity 
in  the  same  proportion  as  they  have  not  been  dominated  by 
the  transcendental  politics  of  messianism,  but  the  really 
personal  life  and  significance  of  Jesus  have  lain  outside  of  the 
norm  of  doctrinal  development.  Indeed,  Christology  has 
never  been  whole-heartedly  interested  in  Jesus,  even  though 
it  has  devoted  itself  to  his  natures  and  person.  The  reason  is 
simple:  in  the  messianic  schema  the  Christ  is  essentially 
functional.  He  must  perform  the  work  of  God's  vice-gerent. 
For  such  an  office  his  earthly  life  was  of  small  significance. 
Even  his  resurrection,  which,  if  once  accepted  as  historical, 
has  a  meaning  wholly  independent  of  the  messianic  argument, 
has  been  made  contributory  to  the  proof  of  his  divine  office. 
The  chief  interest  in  the  anti-Arian  movement  out  of  which 
orthodoxy  rose  lay  in  the  desire  for  assurance  that  the  Savior 
was  divine.  The  ethical  impKcations  in  the  belief  were  all 
but  overlooked. 

Yet  in  the  actual  experiences  of  the  historical  Jesus  with 
their  wealth  of  religious  and  moral  appeal  there  was  over- 
looked another  organizing  principle  which  modern  theology 
recognizes,  but  to  which  historical  orthodoxy  was  blind, 
because  such  experiences  were  not  readily  systematized  in 
the  messianic-drama  theology. 

The  reason  that  the  messianic  drama  became  the  vertebral 
column,  so  to  speak,  of  Christian  doctrine  is  not  far  to  seek. 
It  is  primitive  Christianity  itself,  minus  only  these  experi- 
mental elements.  The  New  Testament  and  other  early  Chris- 
tian literature  make  it  plain  that  the  conquest  of  Christianity 
was  due  primarily  to  an  enthusiasm  born  of  the  belief  that  the 
entire  messianic  program  was  to  be  immediately  fulfilled  and 
that  those  who  accepted  Jesus  in  his  messianic  capacity  would 
participate  in  the  joys  of  the  literal  kingdom  which  he  was  to 
establish.  The  beliefs  with  which  Christianity  started  on  its 
conquest  of  the  Roman  Empire  were  utterly  foreign  to  phi- 
losophy and  were  as  dramatic  as  the  social  experience  in  which 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  59 

the  early  Christians  shared.  Recall  only  the  impassioned 
hopes  and  arguments  of  Ignatius.  To  think  of  Christianity  as 
originally  an  ethical,  sociological,  or  philosophical  movement 
is  to  misinterpret  it  completely.  The  elements  of  its  hope 
were  concrete  and  their  unity  was  the  unity  of  a  drama. 
Therein  was  Christian  theology  in  outline. 

Literature. — ^Literature  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  vast, 
but  mostly  dogmatic  or  mystical  in  character.  For  more  scientific 
treatment  reference  may  be  made  to  Wood,  The  Spirit  of  God  in  Biblical 
Literature  (New  York:  Armstrong,  1904);  Swete,  The  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
Church  {London:  Macmillan,  191 5);  ]onts,  Studies  in  Mystical  Religion 
(London:  Macmillan,  1909);  Fleming,  Mysticism  in  Christianity 
(London:  Scott,  1913);  Cohh,  Mysticism  in  the  Creeds  {London:  Mac- 
millan, 1914). 

c)  The  Hellenistic  social  mind.— When  primitive  Chris- 
tianity entered  into  the  Greco-Roman  world  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  Empire,  it  entered  a  world  untrained  in  the  mes- 
sianic hope.  It  was  therefore  forced  to  restate  itself  in  such 
forms  as  would  satisfy  certain  very  definite  religious  needs 
on  the  part  of  perhaps  the  most  complicated  social  mind  which 
the  world  has  evex  seen  prior  to  that  of  modern  days. 

The  social  mind  of  the  eastern  or  Hellenistic  part  of  the 
Roman  Empire  was  excluded  from  political  and  social  expres- 
sions by  the  policy  adopted  by  the  Roman  conquerors.  While 
there  were  incidental  reforms  instituted  in  various  cities  of  the 
Empire,  the  religious  need  of  the  Greco-Roman  life  was  essen- 
tially metaphysical  and  dramatically  mystical.  On  the  one 
side  there  was  a  need  of  an  absolute  God  as  over  against 
idolatry;  and  on  the  other  side  there  was  the  yearning  for 
salvation  through  union  or  at  least  fellowship  with  this  God. 
The  former  of  these  two  needs  appears  everywhere  in  the 
philosophical  writings,  but  most  characteristically  in  the  Stoic 
term  "Logos."  The  second  of  these  needs  is  apparent  in  the 
rapid  spread  of  the  drama-mystery  religions  with  their  promise 
of  salvation  from  evil  and  death  through  the  union  by  worship 
with  some  god  like  Osiris  or  Mithra. 


6o  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

When  the  message  of  Christian  salvation  came  to  this 
Greco-Roman  world,  it  was  immediately  found  capable 
of  satisfying  these  two  dominant  needs  of  the  social  mind. 
What  the  other  religions  promised,  Christianity,  through 
the  course  of  several  hundred  years  of  bitter  struggle  and 
persecution,  actually  supplied  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  the 
metaphysician  and  the  mystic.  The  form  taken  by  this 
satisfaction  was  the  Nicene  formula  of  a  God  who  is  meta- 
physically and  substantially  one  and  yet  in  terms  of  experi- 
ence has  manifested  himself  personally  so  as  to  come  into 
vital  relationship  with  sinful  man.  The  later  discussions 
of  the  nature  and  person  of  Christ  were  not  superimposed 
upon  the  original  Christian  religion,  but  were  the  growth  of 
the  new  exposition  of  the  content  of  the  new  doctrine  of  God. 
The  old  conceptions  persisted,  but  were  interpreted  through 
new  carrying  concepts.  The  Nicene  theology,  so  far  from 
being  an  addition  to  Christianity,  was  vital  Christianity 
itself  functioning  in  certain  definite  religious  conditions  and 
under  the  control  of  the  Hellenistic  social  mind.  Arianism 
failed  not  so  much  because  it  was  finally  outlawed  as  because 
it  did  not  so  express  the  elemental  Christian  impulse  and  belief 
as  to  satisfy  the  needs  of  the  Greco-Roman  social  mind. 

Literature. — On  Roman  and  Greek  religions  in  the  time  of  the  New 
Testament,  see  DUI,  Roman  Society  from  Nero  to  Marcus  Aurelius 
(New  York:  MacmUlan,  1904);  Mahaffy,  The  Greek  World  wider  Roman 
Sway  (New  York:  MacmUlan,  1890);  and  especially  Cumont,  Les 
religions  orientates  dans  le  paganisme  romain  (Paris:  Leroux,  1906; 
English  translation,  The  Oriental  Religions  in  Roman  Paganism  [Chicago : 
Open  Court  Co.,  191 1]).  For  general  discussion  of  the  influence  of 
Greco-Roman  religions  in  the  development  of  Christianity,  see  Case, 
The  Evolution  oj  Early  Christianity  (Chicago:  University  of  Chicago 
Press,  1 91 5);  Kennedy,  St.  Paul  and  the  Mystery  Religions  (London: 
Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1913). 

The  philosophizing  of  theologians  of  the  early  church 
never  destroyed  their  Christian  inheritance.  By  the  middle 
of  the  second  century,  however,  the  messianic  expectation  had 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  6i 

ceased  to  be  concrete  and  had  become  transcendentaL  True, 
there  were  those  like  the  Montanists  who  fought  against  this 
transformation  and  sought  to  maintain  the  messianic  drama- 
theology  in  full  literalism.  But  so  strong  had  become  the 
tendency  to  revalue  the  messianic  program  as  a  philosophy 
that  this  more  primitive  type  of  Christianity  was  repeatedly 
relegated  to  the  limbo  of  heresy.  Notwithstanding  the 
contributions  made  by  TertulHan  to  Christian  doctrine  and 
vocabulary,  the  line  of  theological  development  runs  not 
through  him,  but  through  that  remarkable  group  of  Alex- 
andrians who  made  regula  fidei  the  basis  of  a  theology  by 
synthesizing  the  messianic  drama  with  Hellenistic  culture. 

This  transition  can  be  observed  primarily  in  two  par- 
ticulars, (i)  With  the  disappearance  of  the  hope  that  the 
heavenly  Kingdom  would  be  immediately  established  the 
Christian  teachers  passed  from  the  heralding  to  the  rationaliz- 
ing of  their  message  of  deliverance.  At  once  they  became 
involved  in  disputes  with  representatives  of  contemporary 
philosophies,  all  of  them  profoundly  interested  in  cosmological 
speculations. 

We  have  so  little  first-hand  knowledge  of  men  like  Marcion 
that  it  is  unsafe  to  speculate  as  to  what  Christianity  might 
have  become  had  the  church  leaders  not  stood  manfully  by  the 
messianic  outline,  but  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  new 
religion  would  have  been  lost  in  the  swarming  gnostic  sects. 
The  line  of  defense  as  laid  down  by  Tertullian  was  implicity 
itself.  "Away  with  all  attempts  to  produce  a  mottled  Chris- 
tianity of  Stoic,  Platonic,  and  dialectic  composition!  We 
want  no  curious  disputation  after  possessing  Christ  Jesus,  no 
inquisition  after  enjoying  the  gospel!  With  our  faith  we 
desire  no  further  belief.  For  this  is  our  palmary  faith,  that 
there  is  nothing  which  we  ought  to  believe  besides."  Ter- 
tuUian's  final  appeal  is  to  regula  Jidei,  which  is  the  very  quintes- 
sence of  an  unphilosophical,  dramatic  summary  of  Christian 
messianism. 


62  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

(2)  But  the  Alexandrine  teachers  chose  quite  another 
method.  With  them  regula  fidei  was  final,  but  it  was  also 
defensible  philosophically.  Accordingly,  for  centuries  the 
defense  proceeded  in  the  way  of  giving  the  Messiah  a  cos- 
mological  value.  Materials  for  such  redefinition  lay  close 
at  hand  in  the  New  Testament  terms  "Son  of  God"  and 
"Logos." 

In  the  New  Testament  usage  the  term  "Son  of  God"  was 
simply  a  synonym  for  "Messiah,"  and  the  Pauline  usage  by 
no  means  served  to  modify  the  politico-dramatic  expectation 
of  messianism.  In  the  hands  of  the  Alexandrine  theologians, 
however,  it  passed  from  the  social  presuppositions  of  politics 
to  the  even  more  universal  presupposition  of  generation. 
A  study  of  Justin  Martyr  and  Origen  will  enable  one  to  trace 
this  clearly.  Instead  of  the  conquering  king  we  have  the 
incarnate  God  foretold  by  the  prophets;  and  this  doctrine  of 
incarnation  which  played  practically  no  role  whatever  in  Paul- 
inism  becomes  a  central  feature  of  the  new  interpretation  of 
regula  fidei.  But  the  transition  from  the  political  to  the 
parental-filial  presupposition  may  be  seen  even  before  Justin 
in  the  struggles  of  Docetism  to  reach  a  rational  Christology. 
Indeed,  the  dangers  inherent  in  this  heresy  appear  in  the 
Johannine  epistles,  where  a  test  of  genuine  Christian  belief  is 
to  be  seen  in  the  assertion  that  the  Christ  has  come  in  the 
flesh.  The  question  under  discussion  did  not  concern  the 
Godhead  but  the  historical  person  Jesus.  How  could  the  Son 
of  God  be  genuinely  human?  The  source  of  the  difficulty 
in  accepting  the  Hebraic  conception  of  unction  is  doubtless 
to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  Christianity  had  passed  from  the 
Jewish  people,  where  messianism  in  its  full  content  was  a 
religious  presupposition,  to  the  Gentile  world,  in  which  the 
possibility  of  incarnation  through  divine  generation  was  a 
universally  accepted  presupposition.  But  even  here  it  will  be 
observed  that  the  transition  is  from  one  social  presupposition 
to  another — from  politics  to  paternity. 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  63 

Literature. — Harnack,  History  of  Dogma  (English  translation  [Boston: 
Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  1896-1900]),  is  the  great  authority  on  the  devel- 
opment of  early  doctrine. 

A  more  genuinely  philosophical  concept  appears  in  the 
Logos.  The  most  significant  transition  in  the  history  of 
Christology  occurred  when  the  Logos  of  cosmological  sig- 
nificance was  identified  with  the  begotten  Son  of  God  and  the 
new  conception  was  injected  into  the  old  messianic  formula 
of  regula  fidei.  The  Logos,  then,  with  Justin  became  the 
revealer  of  a  new  and  sacred  philosophy. 

This  tendency  to  elevate  concrete  dramatic  expectation 
into  a  transcendental,  philosophical  formula  reached  its  cul- 
mination when  the  contest  over  the  sonship  of  the  Logos 
passed  from  the  realm  of  history  into  the  realm  of  the  meta- 
physics of  the  Godhead  and  the  center  of  interest  in  the  Son 
became  not  Jesus  but  the  second  person  of  a  trinity.  Just  as 
the  Kingdom  of  God  ceased  to  become  a  definite  social  order 
upon  the  earth  and  became  a  transcendental  heaven  did  the 
doctrine  of  divine  sonship  pass  from  the  stage  of  history  into 
the  stage  of  metaphysics.  But  again  the  mold  in  which  the 
new  doctrine  was  shaped  was  not  in  itself  metaphysical  but 
one  of  social  experience.  The  great  discussion  of  the  century 
that  culminated  in  the  Council  of  Nicea  centered  about  two 
terms,  "eternal  generation"  and  persona.  We  are  accus- 
tomed to  overlook  this  fact  because  so  much  attention  came 
to  be  centered  upon  the  metaphysical  term  "  consubstantial " ; 
but  consubstantiability  was  only  a  marker  for  the  genuine 
content  expressed  by  the  sonship  of  the  Logos  through  eternal 
generation  rather  than  creation.  And  as  any  fair  study  of 
Athanasius  will  show,  it  is  the  expression  "begotten,  not 
made"  which  is  the  real  heart  of  the  Nicene  Creed.  Con- 
substantiability was  a  dangerous  metaphysical  concept 
blurred  by  Latin  phihstinism,  used  as  a  shibboleth  against 
Arianism  to  protect  the  content  of  "eternal  generation." 
The  organon,  so  to  speak,  by  which  "eternal  generation" 


64  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

was  rationalized  was  the  legal  term  suggested  by  the  lawyer 
Tertullian,  persona.  While  it  is  true  that  in  the  entire  trini- 
tarian  controversy  the  tendency  was  toward  abstraction,  it  is 
beyond  question  that  the  final  decision  of  the  Nicene  Council 
was  regarded,  not  as  a  completely  metaphysical,  but  rather 
as  a  dramatic  and  symbolic  expression.  The  opposition  which 
Athanasius  felt  to  the  word  "  consubstantial "  was  largely  due 
to  his  fear  lest  the  word  should  involve  Christian  theology  in 
metaphysical  heresies.  What  he  and  his  party  desired  was 
the  maintenance  of  the  actual  relationship  which  the  figure 
"eternal  generation"  expressed.  The  appropriation  of  per- 
sona, a  term  so  essential  to  Roman  law,  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  it  connoted  something  that  gave  the  theological  truth 
a  universalized  social,  i.e.,  forensic,  connotation.  However 
metaphysical  the  language  of  the  disputants  in  the  Arian 
controversy,  the  synthetic  rather  than  the  definitive  force  of 
the  term  appears  from  the  well-known  expression  of  Augustine 
to  the  effect  that  the  word  persona  is  used  to  express  a  fact 
which  really  transcends  formal  definition. 

Literature. — Paine,  A  Critical  History  of  the  Evolution  of  Trinitarian- 
ism  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1900),  is  a  readable  account  of  a 
difficult  matter. 

But  while  thus  the  messianic  term  Christ  lost  much  of  its 
original  content  and  became  metaphysical,  the  entire  schema 
of  the  Christian  hope  remained  unchanged.  The  philoso- 
phizing of  ecumenical  Christianity  never  affected  the  dramatic 
program  contained  in  the  old  Roman  symbol,  and  even  its 
metaphysical  Trinitarianism  was  itself  determined  by  the 
analogies  of  social  experience.  The  ecumenical  creeds  never 
passed  beyond  the  relation  of  the  Son  to  the  Father  except  as 
regards  the  person  of  Jesus  and,  somewhat  incidentally,  in 
the  matter  of  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  never 
attempted  to  reorganize  the  messianic  program  as  a  whole. 

d)  Latin  orthodoxy  as  determined  by  imperalism. — When 
one  passes  from  ecumenical  to  Latin  theology,  the  dominance 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  65 

of  the  original  messianic  program  is  at  once  apparent.  Whereas 
the  Greeks  with  their  constitutional  inability  to  organize 
politically  turned  to  the  concept  of  salvation  as  a  gaining  of 
immortality,  the  Latin  world  with  its  passion  for  administra- 
tion and  law  undertook  to  develop  the  governmental  pre- 
suppositions which  lay  back  of  the  primitive  Christian  hope. 
Indeed,  the  history  of  doctrinal  development  in  the  Western 
world  might  be  described  as  the  construction  of  a  theology 
on  the  basis  of  transcendental  politics.  Theology  thus 
advanced  parallel  with  the  development  of  the  church  as  an 
institution. 

As  the  Christian  religion  spread  westward  it  carried  with 
itself  not  only  the  original  messianic  conception  but  also  these 
new  formulas  so  full  of  religious  power.  It  was  not  merely 
church  authority  which  prevailed  in  their  acceptance;  it  was 
a  new  intellectual  and  religious  harmony.  Anything  less  than 
a  Christ  possessed  of  the  divine  nature  was  repudiated  by  that 
Western  social  mind  of  which  Augustine  is  the  epitome  and 
expression.  The  success  of  Arianism  among  certain  German 
tribes  simply  makes  the  real  progress  of  generic  Christianity 
more  obvious. 

As  all  students  of  institutions  would  admit,  it  was  really 
in  the  West  that  the  Roman  genius  best  expressed  itself. 
It  was  in  Italy,  Gaul,  and  Spain  that  by  an  epoch-making  series 
of  experiments  the  Roman  world  evolved  the  imperial  idea. 
To  the  East  this  idea  was  carried  in  terms  of  ofhcialism,  but 
the  ancient  civilizations  were  too  deeply  bedded  to  be  replaced 
by  Roman  methods,  and  remained  a  force  against  which  the 
imperial  idea  struggled  only  to  find  itself  transformed  into 
likeness  to  Oriental  despotism.  In  the  Western  world  the 
imperial  idea  was  really  creative.  It  built  up  new  civilizations 
and  worked  itself  into  the  very  tissues  of  a  growing  new  world. 
Naturally  it  was  in  the  Western  world  that  the  deep  religious 
need  was  felt  of  administrative  efficiency  in  religion  akin  to  the 
political  efficiency  of  the  Empire.     This  was  especially  felt 


66  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

when  the  Empire  itself  began  to  weaken,  and  the  only  con- 
servative or  preservative  force  in  the  Western  civilization  was 
the  church.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  Christianity 
should  have  still  further  developed  itself  in  terms  of  con- 
temporary social  efficiency.  The  Roman  Catholic  church 
was  not  the  invention  of  this  or  that  man;  it  was  rather  the 
outcome  of  the  union  of  the  vital  impulses  of  Christianity,  in 
part  already  recognized,  with  the  social  mind  of  the  Western 
world.  So  thoroughly  did  it  satisfy  the  need  of  the  region  in 
which  the  institutions  of  Rome  persisted  that  to  this  day 
there  is  a  well-marked  social  and  political — not  to  mention 
religious — distinction  between  the  countries  which  had  been 
thoroughly  Romanized  and  those  countries  of  Northern 
Europe  where  Roman  influence  had  never  triumphed,  or 
where  Roman  institutions  were  destroyed  by  un-Romanized 
invaders. 

But  Christianity  in  Western  Europe  came  in  contact  with 
another  widespread  social  attitude,  the  pessimism  and  distrust 
of  human  nature  so  inevitable  in  a  period  when  a  civilization 
literally  disintegrates  before  peoples'  eyes.  Almost  para- 
doxically the  great  religious  need  which  this  terrible  collapse 
of  civilization  engendered  was  some  teaching  that  could 
raise  men  from  trust  in  discredited  human  nature  to  trust  in 
an  eternal  and  supreme  God.  Augustine  formulated  and  fixed 
this  new  phase  in  the  Christian  religion.  His  doctrine  of  sin 
is,  of  course,  involved  in  the  New  Testament,  but  with  him 
it  was  systematized  in  our  religion.  Christianity  was  not  only 
organized  in  terms  of  liberation  from  the  natural  corruption  of 
human  nature,  but  was  made  to  serve  the  purposes  of  faith  in 
a  God  who  was  greater  than  his  world  and  was  not  dependent 
upon  human  virtue  to  bring  about  his  ends.  The  doctrine  of 
original  sin  and  of  God's  sovereignty  were,  therefore,  by  no 
means  accretions,  but  the  expressions  of  the  vital  impulse  of 
Christianity  as  it  brought  power  and  courage  to  the  mind  of 
Western  Europe. 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  67 

e)  Feudalism  and  Christian  theology. — The  history  of  the 
Middle  Ages  gains  unity  as  one  sees  imperialism  expressed  in 
the  Holy  Roman  Empire;  but  so  far  as  Christianity  was  con- 
cerned, this  attempt  at  a  social  order  administered  by  Jesus 
Christ  through  his  two  vice-gerents,  emperor  and  pope, 
expressed  itself  almost  entirely  within  the  development  of  the 
church  itself.  There  was,  however,  another  creative  social 
mind  which  was  to  have  powerful  influence  on  the  develop- 
ment of  Christian  thought — feudaUsm. 

Feudalism  as  a  creative  conception  of  social  relationships 
is  not  difhcult  to  state,  however  much  we  may  fail  to  under- 
stand its  origin.  It  is  the  expression  of  life  subject  to  definite 
economic  conditions,  temporary,  it  is  true,  but,  wherever 
found,  pervading  all  the  thinking  of  its  social  order,  Chris- 
tianity came  to  the  world  of  feudalism  with  its  well-developed 
message  of  a  triune  sovereign  God,  of  a  Savior  possessed  of  the 
divine  nature  and  of  original  sin.  Anselm  endeavored  to 
think  these  three  together  by  systematizing  the  divine  method 
of  salvation  according  to  the  principles  of  feudahsm.  The 
significance  of  the  death  of  Christ,  though  a  part  of  the  original 
message,  had  never  been  systematized  with  other  Christian 
behef.  It  had  been  set  forth  dramatically  as  sacrifice  or 
ransom.  Such  dramatic  presentations  had  been  carried  over 
into  the  church  services,  as  the  mass;  but  minds  dominated 
by  the  social  conceptions  of  feudalism  and  the  passion  for 
system  seen  in  scholasticism  could  not  be  content  to  leave 
their  religion  with  no  connecting  thought  between  salvation 
from  sin  and  the  all-perfect  God.  Such  systematizing  was 
accompHshed  by  Anselm's  extension  of  feudal  concepts  into 
the  realm  of  theology.  As  a  complement  of  the  inherited 
doctrines,  the  death  of  Christ  was  shown  by  him  to  be  the 
satisfaction  of  the  honor  of  God,  injured  by  man's  sin.  Thus 
Christianity  found  itself  for  the  first  time  possessed  of  com- 
plete symmetry.  While  the  Anselmic  doctrine  of  the  atone- 
ment never  became  a  part  of  official  orthodoxy  in  any  such 


68  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

sense  as  did  the  philosophy  of  substance  and  the  behef  in 
original  sin,  it  did  none  the  less  give  direction  to  the  de- 
velopment of  Christian  thought.  From  his  time  Chris- 
tianity has  always  seen  in  the  death  of  Christ  something 
which  has  made  plain  to  the  world  the  ethical  unity  of  a 
forgiving  Sovereign. 

Literature. — Taylor,  The  Mediaeval  Mind  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
igii),  is  a  masterly  treatment  of  this  fascinating  subject  on  Anselm. 
See  the  English  translation  of  the  Cur  Deus  Homo  (Chicago:  Open 
Court  Co.,  1903),  and  Foley,  Ansehn's  Doctrine  of  the  Atonement  (New 
York:  Longmans,  1909). 

/)  The  nationalistic  social  mind  and  theology. — ^The  period 
which  followed  feudalism  was  essentially  a  struggle  between 
the  imperialistic  conception  in  Church  and  State  and  the  new 
spirit  of  monarchy  and  individualism.  The  Reformation  was 
far  more  than  a  mere  theological  or  even  church  struggle.  It 
rooted  itself  in  a  changing  order  with  new  economic,  political, 
and  cultural  forces.  On  its  religious  side  it  was  an  extension 
into  theology  of  the  same  forces  which  were  operative  -in  the 
shaping  of  our  modern  state,  and,  conversely,  an  extension 
into  the  course  of  political  development  of  those  spiritual 
conceptions  which  give  worth  to  personality. 

But  at  this  point  we  notice  the  practical  completion  of 
another  religious  development  in  tenns  of  Roman  Catholicism. 
Just  as  the  Greek  church  has  never  markedly  advanced 
beyond  the  theological  development  expressed  in  the  ecu- 
menical creeds,  so  the  Latin  church  stopped  its  development 
at  the  point  reached  by  scholasticism,  imperialism,  and 
feudalism.  Individual  dogmas,  it  is  true,  have  been  added  by 
the  Latin  church,  but  they  have  been  little  more  than  formal 
ratifications  of  beliefs  involved  in  ecclesiastical  imperialism. 
The  Roman  Curia  in  its  present  struggle  with  Modernism  is 
thoroughly  consistent  in  its  insistence  that  its  theologians 
shall  revert  to  the  study  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  this  fact 


THE  liiSTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  69 

makes  it  plain  that  the  Roman  church  as  yet  does  not  pro- 
pose to  be  influenced  constructively  by  the  new  social  minds 
which  have  created  periods  since  the  sixteenth  century. 

Speaking  generally,  and  with  due  regard  for  the  appar- 
ently exceptional  situation  in  France,  in  those  nations  which 
embraced  the  new  monarchical  conception  born  of  the  new 
conditions  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  the  develop- 
ment of  Christianity  has  proceeded  in  terms  of  Protestantism. 
Conversely,  Protestant  theology  has  been  marked  by  an 
extension  into  theology  of  the  monarchical  idea  as  opposed 
to  the  imperialistic.  This  is  less  true  in  the  case  of  Luther 
than  in  that  of  Calvin,  but  the  change  is  obvious  in  the  new 
interest  shown  by  the  sixteenth  century  in  God's  sovereignty 
and  in  the  substitution  of  the  satisfaction  of  his  punitive 
(sovereign)  justice  for  the  satisfaction  of  his  unsatisfied 
(feudal)  honor.  But  such  a  development  has  been  genetic. 
Protestantism,  notwithstanding  its  laxity  in  some  of  its 
organizing  concepts,  has  held  true  to  the  formulas  of  ecumeni- 
cal orthodoxy. 

The  effort  of  Deism  to  build  up  a  sort  of  cosmic  constitu- 
tional monarchy  similar  to  that  which  was  being  built  up 
contemporaneously  in  England  is  a  striking  illustration  of 
the  impossibility  for  the  social  mind  to  shape  up  a  permanent 
religious  concept  that  does  not  embody  the  fundamental 
Christian  concepts  as  to  God.  In  its  failure  to  perpetuate 
the  belief  that  God  is  in  actual  control  of  his  world  Deism 
was  also  an  illustration  of  the  fact  that  the  elements  of  generic 
Christianity  are  to  be  recognized  in  their  capacity  so  to  unite 
-with  the  dominant  social  minds  as  to  produce  doctrines  which 
satisfy  all  succeeding  social  minds.  A  constitutionally  limited 
God  is  a  religious  impossibility  for  the  scientific  mind.  He 
must  be  absolute  or  he  is  not  God. 

g)  The  age  of  revolutions  and  theology. — The  eighteenth 
century  might  be  described  as  the  period  in  which  the  bourgeois 


70  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

class  became  dominant  in  politics  through  revolution.  It 
followed  naturally,  therefore,  that  its  influence  should  be  felt 
in  all  phases  of  social  life.  This  can  be  seen  in  the  rapid  exten- 
sion of  commerce,  the  spread  of  a  limited  democracy,  as  well 
as  in  the  establishment  of  our  present  capitalistic  system. 
But  quite  as  clearly  it  can  be  seen  in  the  field  of  religion. 

The  bourgeois  social  mind  had  inherited  the  Protestant 
theology  with  its  emphasis  upon  metaphysical  matters  such 
as  those  of  free  will  and  foreordination.  Its  needs,  however, 
were  vastly  more  practical  than  those  which  the  professional 
theologians  and  the  higher  ecclesiastics  could  satisfy.  There 
resulted,  therefore,  from  the  interplay  of  Christianity  with 
this  new  spirit  an  emphasis  on  the  atonement  largely  in  com- 
mercial terms  which  was  to  have  much  the  same  influence  in 
religion  as  the  bourgeois  movement  had  exercised  in  politics. 
For  it  is  to  this  union  that  we  owe  evangelicalism,  that  char- 
acteristic type  of  religious  interest  which  was  so  evident 
among  churchmen  of  all  Christian  bodies  in  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Centering  as  it  did  around  the  substi- 
tutionary atonement,  it  brought  home  afresh  to  a  commercial 
age  the  vitalizing  conception  of  a  divine  love  that  dared  to 
suffer  in  order  to  serve.  A  great  and  sacrificial  conception  of 
God  could  not  fail  to  find  expression  in  the  religious  hfe  of  the 
church.  However  selfish  and  commercial  certain  forms  of 
evangelicalism  may  appear,  however  much  it  has  failed  to 
appreciate  the  inefficiency  of  aristocratic  conceptions  in 
morahty,  to  it  are  due  the  abohtion  of  slavery,  reforms  in 
prisons,  and  the  care  of  the  insane  and  of  the  poor,  the  estab- 
lishment of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  Bible  and 
foreign  mission  societies,  colleges,  and  theological  seminaries. 
Altogether  evangehcaHsm  is  to  be  credited  with  profoundly 
ethical  sympathies. 

This  bourgeois  attitude  took  two  other  very  different 
theological  directions.     On  the  one  side  was  Unitarianism,  in 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  71 

which,  like  an  insurgent  bourgeoisie,  a  respectable  humanity, 
sensitive  to  its  natural  rights  in  the  sight  of  a  sovereign  God, 
rose  up  and  repudiated  belief  in  total  depravity,  and,  in 
consequence,  the  orthodox  conceptions  of  God  and  Christ. 
On  the  other  side  was  Wesley anism,  which  became  a  training 
school  of  religious  democracy,  vital  religious  experience,  and 
aggressive  but  not  excessively  theological  orthodoxy.  The 
subsequent  history  of  these  two  movements  shows  clearly 
which  best  represented  generic  Christianity  in  its  relation  with 
the  dominant  social  mind.  Wesleyanism  and  its  kindred 
nonconformist  groups  live  on,  possessed  of  unchecked  power 
of  spiritual  parentage. 

h)  The  modem  social  mind. — At  this  point  we  come  to  the 
modern  world  in  which  tendencies  are  as  yet  hardly  sufficiently 
developed  to  be  traced  with  precision.  But  the  religious  needs 
of  the  dominant  social  mind  are  at  once  apparent.  Trained 
as  we  are  in  scientific  thought  and  surrounded  as  we  are  by  the 
forces  of  an  adolescent  democracy,  it  is  inevitable  that  we 
should  seek  to  satisfy  religious  needs  in  accordance  with  these 
dominant  forces.  In  the  light  of  the  past  it  is  inevitable  that 
these  satisfactions  will  be  gained  only  on  the  condition  that 
first,  they  include  the  vital  propagating  elements  of  Chris- 
tianity rather  than  some  current  philosophy;  and,  secondly, 
that  the  dominant  social  mind,  rather  than  some  counter 
or  fractional  or  anachronistic  social  mind,  be  permitted  to 
shape  up  dramatically  rather  than  metaphysically  the 
formulas  of  our  religious  thinking.  The  latter  demand  is 
perhaps  a  little  more  clearly  organized  than  the  former.  We 
can  appreciate  the  demand  of  a  scientific  method  and  we  can 
formulate  with  some  precision  the  share  which  democracy 
must  have  in  our  religious  development;  but  the  religious 
thinkers  of  the  day  are  not  yet  at  one  as  to  what  elements  of 
our  inherited  religion  are  essential  to  the  continued  efficiency 
of  Christianity. 


72  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

E.    WHY  THEOLOGY  HAS  NOT  DEVELOPED  PARALLEL 

WITH  THE  PRESUPPOSITIONS  OF  SOCIAL 

EXPERIENCE 

While  thus  the  influence  of  the  presuppositions  of  social 
experience  is  to  be  traced  in  the  development  of  doctrinal 
systems,  it  is  also  true  that  there  has  been  no  such  complete 
parallelism  in  the  development  of  theology  and  social  insti- 
tutions as  might  be  expected.  Theologies  have  not  always 
been  orthodox,  but  they  have  seldom  reached  wide  acceptance 
when  diverging  widely.  Furthermore,  periods  of  intellectual 
and  political  progress  have  always  been  marked  by  distrust 
as  well  as  transformation  of  theological  systems. 

The  reason  for  these  discrepancies  between  the  logical  and 
the  actual  relation  of  theology  to  the  social  mind  are  not  far 
to  seek. 

a)  The  influence  of  philosophy. — In  the  first  place,  theology 
has  always  been  checked  in  its  response  to  the  creative  social 
forces  by  a  tendency  to  become  a  philosophy.  The  history 
of  theology  on  the  one  side  may  be  described  as  a  struggle 
between  these  dramatic  conceptions  in  which  men  have 
endeavored  to  make  real  to  themselves  the  significance  of  their 
religious  beliefs  and  philosophy.  Such  a  conflict  was  inevi- 
table from  the  fact,  already  noted,  that  philosophy  is  both 
the  product  of  the  same  social  experience  as  theological 
thought,  and  at  the  same  time  is  a  phase  of  that  social  mind 
with  which  theology  has  to  reckon.  In  its  earlier  stages 
theology  was  forced  into  conflict  with  systems  of  thought 
which  undertook  to  organize  Christianity  in  terms  of  some 
cosmological  or  metaphysical  principle.  Especially  was  this 
true  in  the  case  of  the  great  contest  lasting  for  centuries 
between  Catholicism  and  Gnosticism.  The  gnostic  movement, 
strictly  speaking,  was  not  theological.  Combining  the  cos- 
mological idea  of  emanation  and  the  theosophical  idea  of 
dualism,  it  undertook  to  embody  in  itself  such  elements  of  the 
New  Testament  as  it  could.     Its  success  was  great,  and  there 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  73 

resulted  what  might  fairly  be  called  a  rival  religion  which  was 
Christian  only  in  the  sense  that  it  embodied  certain  elements 
of  Christianity  in  a  synthetic  philosophical  schema  covering 
all  phases  of  human  thought. 

In  their  struggle  with  this  rival  the  Christian  thinkers, 
as  has  already  been  pointed  out,  strove  to  do  two  things: 
first,  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  messianic  schema 
which  was  involved  in  the  baptismal  symbol  and  regula  fidei; 
and,  second,  to  show  forth  the  philosophical  significance  of 
such  doctrines  as  were  in  process  of  formulation.  That 
Catholicism  conquered  was  due  to  many  causes,  but  doubtless 
as  much  as  any  to  the  fact  that,  although  cosmological  sig- 
nificance was  given  to  Christ  reconceived  as  Logos,  the  second 
person  of  the  Trinity,  the  Catholic  scheme  of  doctrine  was  not 
subjected  to  that  world-view  which  was  the  basis  of  the  gnostic 
teaching.  On  one  side  Catholicism  protected  itself  by  the 
criticism  of  the  extravagant  ideas  of  Gnosticism  and  on  the 
other  side  by  the  appeal  to  that  which  had  been  "always, 
everywhere,  and  by  all"  believed.  This  latter  appeal  was  of 
course  not  an  answer  to  the  claim  of  Gnosticism  to  be  the  true 
philosophy  of  religion,  but  it  did  succeed  in  making  clear  that 
Gnosticism  was  not  the  Christianity  which  was  contained  in 
the  New  Testament.  Furthermore,  in  refusing  to  answer 
philosophical  objections  to  Christianity  by  philosophical 
arguments  and  by  concentrating  attention  upon  its  strictly 
theological  elements,  CathoHcism  accomplished  two  things: 
it  preserved  the  theological  elements  which  it  had  inherited, 
and  it  repudiated  a  view  of  theology  as  of  necessity  adapting 
itself  to  current  modes  of  thought  at  the  expense  of  its  own 
criteria. 

It  has  been  inevitable,  therefore,  that  in  the  same  propor- 
tion as  a  philosophy  has  become  identified  with  the  strictly 
theological  elements  of  a  church  system  the  two  should  have 
been  carried  along  together.  A  striking  illustration  of  that 
is   Thomas    Aquinas,    whose    Christianized    AristoteHanism 


74  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

thoroughly  identified  philosophical  method  and  point  of 
view  with  theological  positions.  The  current  struggle  of  the 
Roman  Curia  with  Modernism  is  an  illustration  of  how  a 
theology  which  has  grown  rigid  through  the  dogmatizing 
of  philosophical  concepts  fails  to  respond  to  the  new  presup- 
positions which  condition  the  evolution  of  social  experience 
and  philosophy  itself.  But  similar  illustrations  could  be 
drawn  from  Lutheranism  and  Calvinism.  Each  of  these 
great  systems  has  suffered  a  hardening  of  the  arteries  of 
theology  because  of  the  introduction  into  it  of  philosophical 
concepts  transformed  into  orthodoxy  by  ecclesiastical  and 
poHtical  authority.  In  consequence  neither  system  responds 
readily  to  the  modern  mind. 

b)  The  retarding  influence  of  doctrinal  orthodoxy. — Thus 
^we  are  brought  to  the  second  reason  for  the  failure  of  theology 
to  develop  pari  passu  with  social  evolution.  The  philosophiz- 
ing of  theology  might  have  been  to  a  considerable  extent 
rectified  in  the  course  of  the  development  of  Christianity  had 
it  not  been  rendered  static  by  being  transformed  into  authori- 
tative orthodoxy. 

A  student  of  church  history  does  not  need  to  be  told  how 
this  process  proceeded.  Generally  speaking,  it  may  be.  said 
to  have  begun  in  an  attempt  at  some  adjustment  of  the  in- 
herited Christian  faith  to  a  philosophical  mode  of  thinking; 
this  was  followed  by  a  period  of  controversy  in  which  the 
defenders  of  the  inherited  regula  fidei  were  forced  to  justify 
their  position  by  the  use  of  some  philosophical  concept;  there- 
upon there  occurred  the  holding  of  a  council  which  formulated 
the  doctrine  in  dispute  in  accordance  with  regula  fidei  or  creed 
and  the  philosophy  of  its  defenders,  and  then  made  the  accep- 
tance of  its  formularies  the  test  of  right  belief.  As  the 
decisions  of  these  councils  were  as  a  rule  enforced  by  the  state 
as  well  as  by  the  penalty  of  excommunication  from  the  church, 
theology  steadily  grew  less  responsive  to  the  changing  social 
mind. 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  75 

We  see  here  the  fundamental  weakness  of  a  doctrine  which 
depends  solely  or  chiefly  upon  authority.  It  of  necessity 
perpetuates  philosophical  and  social  survivals.  However 
serviceable  it  may  have  been  to  the  age  in  which  it  was  formu- 
lated; however  it  may  have  functioned  helpfully  because  of  its 
participation  in  the  dynamic  presuppositions  of  the  life  of  its 
day,  it  grows  incapable  of  service  and  helpfulness  in  ages  of 
different  character.  Indeed,  we  might  almost  say,  in  the 
same  proportion  in  which  it  did  function  well  does  its  rigidity 
render  it  incapable  of  vital  service  to  those  communities  which 
are  dominated  by  different  social  minds.  For  this,  if  for  no 
other  reason,  there  is  imminent  danger  lest  the  essential 
and  permanent  values  which  orthodoxy  expresses  shall  be  lost 
to  those  who  no  longer  accept  the  philosophy  and  no  longer 
share  in  the  social  experience  which  orthodoxy  has  embodied 
in  itself. 

Literature. — A  notable  treatise  on  this  aspect  of  Christianity  is 
Sabatier,  Religions  of  Authority  mid  the  Religion  of  the  Spirit  (New  York: 
McCIure  Phillips,  1905). 

c)  The  constructive  task  of  theology. — Yet  this  cannot 
obscure  the  fact  which  the  history  of  the  doctrine-making 
process  discloses.  Orthodoxy  is  the  outcome  of  a  process, 
unhappily  arrested  by  ecclesiasticism,  by  which  fundamental 
religious  realities  were  mediated  to  religious  needs  of  a  given 
period  by  the  use  of  the  presuppositions  of  that  period's  social 
experience.  Any  theological  reconstruction,  therefore,  that 
would  be  thoroughgoing  and  do  for  our  age  what  the  original 
creators  of  theology  did  for  theirs  must  face  two  tasks:  first, 
it  must  distinguish  between  the  theological  schema  which 
came  over  from  the  messianic  Christianity  of  the  primitive 
church  and  that  philosophical  construction  which  has  built 
up  by  it  as  defense  an  explanation ;  and,  second,  it  must  evalu- 
ate the  schema  itself  in  terms  of  religious  efficiency.  This 
second  is  the  primary  task  of  today.  As  long  as  it  is  neglected 
will  theology  be  in  distress.     Christianity  can  never  dominate 


76  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

our  modern  world  by  merely  changing  its  philosophical  ele- 
ment. That  is,  of  course,  demanded;  but  the  fundamental 
need  is  that  of  dramatic  analogies  drawn  from  our  dominant 
social  mind  by  which  religious  thinking  can  satisfy  their  re- 
ligious needs,  that  longing  for  divine  help,  which  our  intense 
and  compHcated  life  originates. 

Theology  today  as  never  before  cannot  be  replaced  by 
either  psychology  or  philosophy.  The  position  which  the 
theologian  will  take  in  the  present  moment  of  unrest  will  be 
very  largely  determined  by  his  conception  of  the  aim  of  the- 
ology. If,  as  many  hold,  the  purpose  of  theology  is  to  give 
final  and  unchangeable  formulations  for  religious  experience 
and  so  to  express  religious  truth  that  it  shall  be  as  statically 
absolute  as  metaphysical  reality  itself,  there  is  no  appeal 
except  that  of  orthodoxy  itself  to  the  authority  of  either 
councils,  the  pope,  or  an  a  priori  belief  in  an  infallible  Scrip- 
ture. It  goes  without  saying  that  such  an  appeal  will  com- 
pletely break  with  our  modern  world.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  purpose  of  theology  is  held  to  be  functional  and  if  it  is 
an  ever-growing  approximation  to  ultimate  reality  through  the 
satisfaction  it  gives  to  the  ever-developing  and  changing  reli- 
gious needs  of  different  periods,  then  theological  method 
becomes  to  a  considerable  extent  empirical  and  pragmatic. 
Theological  reconstruction  will  seek,  first  of  all,  not  philo- 
sophical means  of  adapting  a  theological  schema  to  our  modern 
world,  but  will  rather  reproduce  the  actual  procedure  of 
theology  in  its  creative  epochs.  That  is  to  say,  as  theology  in 
such  epochs  has  utilized  the  dynamic  presuppositions  con- 
ditioning all  social  activity  in  general  will  it  today  seek  to 
utilize  such  presuppositions  as  are  now  creative. 

Nor  is  this  a  difficult  task.  The  theologian  who  approaches 
his  problem  from  the  point  of  view  of  social  experience  rather 
than  that  of  metaphysics  will  recognize  two  presuppositions 
which  are  reconstituting  our  modern  world:  evolution  and 
creative  democracy..    Just  how   these   two  presuppositions 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  77 

can  be  used  for  theological  reconstruction  must  be  left  to 
an  honest  and  scientific  methodology. 

The  historical  study  of  a  religion  like  our  own  is  not 
content  to  deal  only  with  facts  and  their  relations.  It  seeks 
not  only  to  discover  the  origins  and  to  trace  the  course  of 
development  of  Christian  truths;   it  must  also  evaluate  them. 

When  one  evaluates  historically  our  heritage  of  doctrinal 
formulas,  he  will  discover  in  them  both  form  and  content. 
The  latter  may  have  been  recognized  without  reflection 
throughout  the  history  of  the  church,  but  the  doctrine- 
making  process  at  last  brought  it  into  consciousness  and  sys- 
tematic perspective.  It  is  this  fact  that  explains  how  it  is 
that  Christianity  has  always  attempted  to  reproduce  biblical 
materials.  Such  determination  is  not  due  merely  to  a  belief 
in  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures;  it  is  really  due  to  the 
essential  nature  of  Christianity  itself,  for  the  teaching  and 
person  of  Jesus  as  seen  through  actual  experience  have  always 
been  the  ultimate  criteria  to  which  the  church  has  reverted. 
The  normative  elements  of  our  religion,  however  stated,  are 
always  traceable  to  the  relations  of  the  church  to  its  Founder. 
The  successive  developments  of  doctrine  might  be  thus 
described  as  our  religion  functioning  in  the  new  situations  set 
by  dominant  social  minds  for  the  purpose  of  making  clear  to 
successive  generations  the  reality  of  that  salvation  which  Jesus 
brings.  Generic  Christianity  is,  in  fact,  the  gospel  as  it  has 
developed  under  new  social  influences. 

It  is  thus  not  difficult  to  see,  back  of  these  successively 
organized  doctrines,  the  elements  which  go  to  make  up 
generic  Christianity.  Stated  as  far  as  possible  without  the 
doctrinal  forms  given  them  by  successive  social  minds,  they 
are  as  follows: 

1.  Men  are  sinful,  and,  if  they  are  to  avoid  the  outcome  of 
sin,  in  need  of  salvation  by  God. 

2.  The  God  of  the  universe  is  knowable  as  the  God  of  love, 
who  in  personal  self-expression  seeks  reconciliation  with  men. 


78  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

3.  God  has  revealed  himself  as  Savior  in  the  historical 
person,  Jesus. 

4.  God  comes  into  any  human  life  that  seeks  him,  both 
directly  through  prayer  and  service,  and  indirectly  through 
social  organizations  like  the  church,  transforming  it  and 
making  it  in  moral  quality  like  himself. 

5.  The  death  of  Christ  is  the  revelation  of  the  moral 
unity  of  the  love  and  law  of  God. 

6.  Those  who  accept  Jesus  as  the  divine  Lord  and  Savior 
constitute  a  community  in  special  relationship  with  God. 

7.  Such  persons  may  look  forward  to  triumph  over 
death  and  entrance  into  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

These  fundamentals  of  generic  Christianity  are  not 
dependent  upon  the  particular  type  of  philosophy  in  which 
they  have  been  adjusted  to  the  needs  of  social  minds.  They 
are  as  old  as  the  New  Testament.  As  a  growing  religious 
inheritance  they  have  been  constantly  recast  and  reappreci- 
ated.  Various  social  minds,  in  proportion  as  they  have  felt 
the  need  of  the  help  one  or  all  of  them  can  give,  have  used 
their  own  vocabularies  to  express  them,  but  even  when  the 
vocabularies  themselves  have  in  some  cases  grown  unin- 
telligible, the  reality  itself  has  continued  to  function. 

In  the  light  of  these  facts  it  seems  inevitable,  therefore, 
that,  if  Christianity  is  to  go  on  developing,  these  same  funda- 
mentals must  be  brought  into  contact  with  the  dominant 
social  mind  of  today.  The  Christianity  of  tomorrow  will 
not  be  a  new  religion,  nor  will  it  be  a  merely  reiterated,  un- 
critically accepted  orthodoxy.  It  will  be  a  genetic  develop- 
ment of  those  beliefs  which  have  constituted  the  permanent 
elements  in  historical  orthodoxy.  The  particular  formulas  in 
which  this  generic  theology  has  been  expressed  do  not  function 
well  with  modern  men,  but  that  which  they  express — which 
is  generic  Christianity — is  possessed  of  religious  value  and 
power. 


THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGION  79 

At  one  point  we  already  see  evidence  of  new  doctrinal 
development.  The  religion  of  our  modern  world  is  already 
shaping  up  the  social  as  well  as  the  individual  content  of  the 
eschatology  of  the  original  gospel  message,  as  yet  so  imper- 
fectly evaluated,  and  therefore  so  often  Hterally  presented. 
But  this  awaited  doctrine  of  salvation,  which  our  age,  because 
of  its  new  social  passion,  is  the  first  clearly  to  need,  and, 
because  of  its  more  scientific  understanding  of  man's  nature 
and  of  its  new  social  sympathies,  is  the  first  to  grasp  and 
attempt  to  organize  in  terms  of  life  and  society,  will  be 
genetically  the  outcome  of  the  generic  Christianity  of  the  past. 
It  will  mediate  God  to  the  individual  in  his  personal  sorrow 
and  temptation,  and  also  to  the  complex  of  individual  activi- 
ties we  call  society.  However  much  grander  and  richer  it 
may  become,  generic  Christianity  tomorrow,  as  yesterday,  will 
prove  itself  capable  of  satisfying  the  religious  needs  of  a 
dominant  social  mind  in  terms  and  concepts,  both  individual 
and  collective,  which  are  furnished  by  that  social  mind. 
Expressing  itself  in  an  enriched,  genetically  progressing,  and 
far-reaching  way  of  life,  it  can  have  no  other  foundation  than 
that  which  is  laid,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Any  form  of  Chris- 
tianity that  is  not  in  attitude  and  fundamental  sympathies 
at  one  with  the  religious  spirit  of  historical  Christianity, 
in  whatever  way  it  may  reject  the  philosophies  or  the  dramatic 
pictures  and  analogies  in  which  this  spirit  has  been  expressed, 
will  be  spiritually  weak. 


III.     THE  STUDY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  AND 
OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

By  J.  M.  POWIS  SMITH 
Professor  of  Old  Testament  Language  and  Literature,  University  of  Chicago 


ANALYSIS 

PAGES 

Introduction. — The  aim  and  the  process  of  the  study  of  the  Old 
Testament 83-85 

1.  The  Process  of  Translation. — The  character  of  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage.— Methods  and  helps  in  the  study  of  Hebrew. — Lexicography. 

— Obscure  passages 85-89 

2.  The  Textual  Criticism  of  the  Old  Testament. — The  existing 
manuscripts. — The  state  of  the  Massoretic  text. — Emendation  of  the 
text. — Duplicate  passages. — Comparison  of  ancient  versions. — 
The  Septuagint  and  daughter-versions. — Other  Greek  versions. — 
The  Samaritan  Pentateuch.— The  Targums.— The  Peshitta'.— The 
Vulgate. — Conjectural  emendations. — Should  the  Hebrew  language 
be  required  of  all  students  of  theology  ? — How  best  to  study  the 

Old  Testament  in  English 89-104 

3.  The  Literary  Criticism  and  Lnterpretation  of  the  Old  Testament. 
— The  function  of  criticism. — The  criteria  of  poetry. — Varieties  of 
prose. — Composite  authorship. — The  problem  of  authorship. — The 
problem  of  date. — The  author's  purpose. — Comparative  study  of 
literature. — The  art  of  interpretation 104-119 

4.  The  History  of  the  Hebrews. — Scope  of  history. — Dating  of 
sources. — Facts  vs.  interpretation  of  facts. — The  interpretative  bias. 
— Geography  as  a  historical  source. — ^Archaeology  and  history. — 
History  of  the  Semitic  world. — Problems  in  Hebrew  history     .        .      1 19-135 

5.  The  Religion  of  the  Hebrews. — Religion  and  history. — Religion 
and  culture. — Hebrew  religion  and  Semitic  religion. — Problems  in 

the  study  of  Hebrew  religion 136-144 

6.  The  Religious  Value  of  the  Old  Testament. — The  Canon. — 
History  of  the  interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament. — The  value  of 
the  Old  Testament. — The  Old  Testament  in  relation  to  the  New. — 
The  Old  Testament  and  systematic  theology.— The  Old  Testament 

and  vital  religion 144-161 


III.    THE  STUDY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  AND 
OF  THE  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

INTRODUCTION 

The  primary  purpose  in  the  study  of  the  writings  of  the 
Hebrews  is  the  discovery  of  the  exact  thoughts  which  the 
writers  themselves  desired  to  express.  The  task  of  inter- 
pretation is  not  a  simple  one,  even  when  writer  and  inter- 
preter belong  to  the  same  race,  speak  the  same  language,  live 
in  the  same  age,  and  have  the  same  background  of  history  and 
civilization.  When  none  of  these  advantages  are  to  the  credit 
of  the  interpreter,  his  work  is  rendered  immeasurably  more 
difficult.  In  proportion  as  these  racial,  linguistic,  and  socio- 
logical barriers  can  be  removed  or  surmounted,  the  interpreter 
may  hope  for  success  in  his  attempt  to  enter  into  the  thought 
of  the  author.  But  just  as  the  only  way  to  learn  to  swim  is  by 
swimming,  so  the  interpreter  of  the  Old  Testament  must  gain 
his  equipment  for  interpretation  in  the  main  from  the  very 
literature  that  he  is  to  interpret.  Aside  from  the  larger 
Semitic  literature,  of  which  the  Old  Testament  forms  a  part, 
and  to  which  it  constitutes  in  itself  the  easiest  and  most  natu- 
ral approach,  there  is  no  source  whence  the  interpreter  may 
derive  the  point  of  view,  the  linguistic  skill,  the  anthropological 
approach,  and  the  historical  knowledge  requisite  to  the  suc- 
cessful prosecution  of  the  work  of  interpretation.  This 
larger  Semitic  sphere  is  similarly  segregated  and  cannot  be 
understood  or  appreciated  from  the  outside.  Its  interpreter, 
too,  must  learn  to  interpret  by  interpreting.  Under  these 
circumstances  the  practical  method  of  procedure  for  one  who 
wishes  to  gain  the  best  possible  understanding  of  the  Old 
Testament  is  to  start  work  at  once  upon  the  Old  Testament 
itself.  Through  the  gate  thus  opened  let  him  pass  on  into 
other  fields  of  Semitic  thought  and  come  back  from  these  into 

83 


84  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  Old  Testament  again,  better  able  to  understand  and 
appreciate  it  by  reason  of  the  breadth  of  vision  and  standards 
for  comparison  obtained  in  the  larger  Semitic  world. 

The  first  step  on  the  way  to  mastery  of  the  contents  of  the 
Old  Testament  is  to  take  up  the  study  oj  the  Hebrew  language, 
in  which  all  of  it,  except  certain  chapters  in  Ezra  and  Daniel, 
is  written.  This  work  of  translation  will  inevitably  involve 
comparison  with  the  earlier  translations  into  Greek,  Syriac, 
Latin,  etc.,  and  it  will  drive  the  zealous  translator  farther 
afield  into  the  cognate  languages,  Assyrian,  Arabic,  Ethiopic, 
etc.,  that  he  may  discover  there  the  meanings  of  words  and 
phrases  upon  which  the  Old  Testament  itself  throws  insuffi- 
cient light. 

But,  when  all  legitimate  aids  to  translation  have  been 
exhausted,  there  will  remain  many  passages  which  still  defy 
interpretation  or  translation.  Many  of  these  will  raise  the 
question  of  the  validity  of  the  textual  tradition,  and  the 
translator  will  find  himself  forced  to  enter  upon  the  science  of 
textual  criticism.  He  must  endeavor  to  restore  the  original 
text  by  elimination  of  its  errors  before  he  can  with  satisfaction 
undertake  the  task  of  translation. 

When  the  work  of  textual  criticism  and  translation  has 
been  completed,  the  task  of  literary  criticism  remains.  The 
function  of  this  discipline  is  to  enable  us  to  evaluate  aright 
the  document  that  lies  before  us.  It  enables  us  to  place  it  in 
its  proper  literary  category,  to  determine  whether  it  is  the 
work  of  one  or  of  many  hands,  to  fix  its  approximate  date,  to 
discover  its  historical  and  social  background,  and  to  learn  its 
author's  purpose  and  point  of  view. 

With  these  facts  in  our  possession  we  are  ready  to  under- 
take detailed  interpretation  of  the  document.  We  are  able 
to  put  ourselves  in  the  author's  place  and  see  the  people  to 
whom  he  addressed  his  message  and  the  occasion  which  called 
it  forth.  His  words  take  on  new  meaning,  and  his  message 
becomes  vital. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL         85 

We  pass  from  this  consideration  of  documents  as  such  to 
the  more  comprehensive  science  of  history.  On  the  basis 
of  the  documents  properly  analyzed,  classified,  dated,  and 
interpreted  we  proceed  to  reconstruct  the  historical  experience 
of  Israel.  We  trace  the  course  of  her  economic,  social,  and 
political  development.  We  relate  her  development  to  that 
of  the  oriental  world  in  general.  In  the  same  way  the  religious 
development  is  traced  from  its  earliest  and  most  primitive 
stage,  as  merely  one  of  the  minor  Semitic  religions,  to  its 
highest  goal  as  one  of  the  great  religions  of  the  world. 

Finally,  the  question  of  value  remains.  In  the  effort 
to  determine  this  we  consult  the  judgment  of  past  ages, 
which  has  expressed  itself  in  the  process  of  canonization  and 
in  the  history  of  interpretation.  We  are  then  ready  to  con- 
sider the  worth  of  the  Old  Testament  and  its  religion  for 
today.  This  leads  to  an  investigation  regarding  its  con- 
tribution to  the  various  co-ordinate  subjects  which  go  to 
make  up  a  theological  curriculum,  e.g.,  the  study  of  the  New 
Testament,  church  history,  systematic  theology,  religious 
education,  and  the  like.  Especially  important  is  the  question 
as  to  the  degree  to  which  the  Old  Testament  contributes 
toward  the  upbuilding  of  character  through  the  implantation 
of  high  ideals  and  the  inspiration  that  comes  from  the  con- 
sideration of  the  lives  of  its  great  men. 

In  the  following  pages  the  preceding  program  will  guide 
our  thought  and  enable  us  to  bear  in  mind  constantly  the 
relation  of  the  special  topic  under  consideration  to  the  larger 
subject  as  a  whole. 

I.    THE  PROCESS  OF  TRANSLATION 
THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  HEBREW  LANGUAGE 

The  first  obstacle  confronting  him  who  desires  to  appreci- 
ate the  Old  Testament  to  the  full  is  the  necessity  of  learning 
the  languages  in  which  it  is  written.  These  are  Hebrew  and 
Aramaic.     The  proportion  of  the  Aramaic  text  to  the  whole  is 


86  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

very  small,  the  former  being  limited  to  Jer.  io:ii;  Dan. 
2:4b — 7:28;  Ezra  4:8 — 6:18;  7:12-26;  and  two  words  in 
Gen.  31:47- 

The  Hebrew  language  is,  relatively  speaking,  not  difficult 
to  learn.  Its  syntactical  structure  is  simple;  its  inflectional 
system  is  not  cumbersome;  and  the  vocabulary  of  the  Old 
Testament  is  quite  limited.  There  are  in  all  about  seven 
thousand  words  in  the  Old  Testament,  of  which  one  thousand 
appear  twenty-five  times  or  more  each.  Not  only  this, 
but  these  words  are  formed  from  roots  of  which  each  yields 
many  different  formations.  A  knowledge  of  the  root  and  its 
meaning,  together  with  a  familiarity  with  the  significance  of 
the  various  methods  of  formation,  gives  control  of  the  mean- 
ing of  a  large  number  of  words.  There  are  only  about  three 
hundred  possible  verbal  forms,  as  compared  with  those  of 
Greek,  for  example,  which  has  approximately  twelve  hundred 
such  forms.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  as  much  facility  in  the  use 
of  Hebrew  can  be  gained  in  one  year  as  would  require  three 
years'  time  in  the  case  of  Latin  or  Greek. 

METHODS   OF  STUDYING  HEBREW 

Grammars  and  dictionaries. — For  the  beginner  in  Hebrew  the  best 
plan  is  to  use  the  inductive  method,  as  represented  by  W.  R.  Harper's 
Introductory  Hebrew  Method  and  Manual,  23d  ed.  (New  York:  Scribner 
191 2).  This  should  be  accompanied  by  W.  R.  Harper's  Elements  of 
Hebrew,  25th  ed.  (New  York:  Scribner,  1912).  Those  preferring  the 
older,  deductive  methods  may  choose  between  A.  B.  Davidson's  Intro- 
ductory Hebrew  Grammar,  with  Progressive  Exercises  in  Reading  and 
Writing,  19th  ed.  revised  throughout  by  J.  E.  McFadyen  (Edinburgh: 
T.  &  T.  Clark,  1914),  and  C.  P.  Fagnani's  Primer  of  Hebrew  (New  York: 
Scribner,  1903). 

For  more  advanced  stages  in  the  study  of  the  language  recourse 
must  be  had  to  the  standard  grammars,  viz.,  Wilhelm  Gesenius'  hebrdische 
Grammatik,  vollig  umgearbeitet,  von  E.  Kautzsch,  28th  ed.  (Leipzig: 
Vogel,  1909;  2d  English  ed.,  translated  by  G.  W.  Collins  and  revised 
by  A.  E.  Cowley  [New  York:  Oxford  University  Press,  1910]);  F.  E. 
Konig,  Historisch-kritisches  Lehrgebdude  der  hebrdischen  Sprache,  3  vols. 
(Leipzig:   Hinrichs,  1897);   Sta.de,  Lehrbuch  der  hebrdischen  Grammatik 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL         87 

(Leipzig:  Vogel,  1879);  W.  R.  Harper,  Elements  of  Hebrew  Syntax 
(New  York:  Scribner,  1888);  A.  B.  Davidson,  Hebrew  Syntax  (New 
York:  Scribner,  1894);  S.  R.  Driver,  A  Treatise  on  the  Use  of  the  Tenses 
in  Hebrew,  3d  ed.  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1892);  Kennett,  A  Short 
Account  of  the  Hebrew  Tenses  (Cambridge:  University  Press,  1901); 
W.  H.  Green,  A  Grammar  of  the  Hebrew  Language  (New  York:  Wiley  & 
Sons,  1889). 

The  only  dictionaries  of  Hebrew  worthy  of  consideration  are :  Francis 
Brown  (with  the  co-operation  of  S.  R.  Driver  and  Charles  A.  Briggs),  A 
Hebrew  and  English  Lexicon  of  the  Old  Testament,  with  an  Appendix 
Containing  the  Biblical  Aramaic,  based  on  the  Lexicon  of  W.  Gesenius, 
as  translated  by  Edward  Robinson  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co., 
1906);  Frants  Buhl,  Wilhelm  Gesenius^  hebrdisches  und  aramdisches 
Handworterbuch  ilber  das  Alte  Testament,  i6th  ed.  (Leipzig:  Vogel,  191 5); 
Siegfried-Stade,  Hebrdisches  W orterbuch  zum  Alien  Testamente  (Leipzig: 
Veit,  1899;  Eduard  Konig,  Hebrdisches  und  aramdisches  W orterbuch  sum 
Allen  Testament  (Leipzig:  Dieterich,  1910);  Elieser  ben  Jehuda,  Thesau- 
rus totius  Hebraitatis  et  veteris  et  recentioris  (New  York:  International 
News  Co.,  1909;  not  yet  complete). 

Biblical  Aramaic. — Biblical  Aramaic  may  easily  be  mastered  with 
the  aid  of  Marti's  Kitrzgefasste  Granimaiik  der  biblisch-aranidischen 
Sprache,  2d  ed.  (New  York:  Lemcke  und  Buechner,  191 1).  The  vocabu- 
lary will  be  found  listed  in  the  foregoing  Hebrew  and  Aramaic  diction  aries . 
Hebrew  and  Aramaic  are  not  two  wholly  unrelated  languages.  They 
are  rather  but  two  branches  or  dialects  of  the  Semitic  family  of  languages. 
Consequently,  a  knowledge  of  Hebrew  greatly  facilitates  the  acqui- 
sition of  Aramaic.  Much  new  light  has  been  thrown  upon  the  biblical 
Aramaic  by  the  discovery  of  a  collection  of  Aramaic  papyri  at  Elephan- 
tine on  the  Nile  in  the  years  1906-8  a.d. 

Versions. — No  translator  of  the  Old  Testament  can  ignore 
the  translations  already  in  existence.  Starting  with  the 
many  modern  versions,  he  must  push  back  to  the  ancient 
versions,  seeking  to  improve  his  own  rendering  by  careful 
comparison  at  every  step.  The  most  important  ancient 
version  is  the  Septuagint,  which  was  begun  some  time  in  the 
third  century  B.C.  Next  comes  the  Syriac  Version,  known  as 
the  Peshitta.  Behind  these  must  be  placed  the  more  familiar 
Latin  rendering,  commonly  called  the  Vulgate.'' 

'Information  and  literature  regarding  these  and  other  versions  will  be 
found  on  pp.  94-100. 


88  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Supplementary  lexicographical  and  grammatical  study. — 

Better  translations  of  the  Old  Testament  than  any  thus 
far  made  are  now  within  our  reach.  Before  the  oldest  known 
translation  was  made  classical  Hebrew  had  become  prac- 
tically a  dead  language.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  scientific 
scholarship  of  the  present  day  yields  a  better  mastery  of  that 
language  than  has  been  possible  at  any  earlier  stage  of  its 
study.  Through  the  aid  of  exhaustive  concordances  we  are 
able  to  compare  passage  with  passage  and  word  with  word,  and 
thus  to  determine  the  precise  significance  of  many  a  word 
and  phrase  which,  standing  alone,  would  be  almost  unintel- 
ligible. By  the  study  of  a  word  in  all  of  its  various  contexts 
we  obtain  new  conceptions  of  its  flexibility  and  capacity 
to  take  on  more  or  less  widely  varying  shades  of  meaning. 
This  word-study  is  further  advanced  by  the  contribution 
obtainable  from  the  languages  cognate  with  Hebrew.  The 
vocabulary  of  each  one  of  these  contains  much  that  is  found 
also  in  Hebrew.  Oftentimes  a  word  that  occurs  but  once  or 
twice  in  Hebrew  is  found  to  be  of  constant  occurrence  in  one 
or  more  of  the  cognates,  and  its  meaning  is  thus  easily  obtain- 
able. In  the  light  of  this  comparative  language-study 
a  much  better  understanding  of  the  laws  of  Hebrew  syntax 
obtains  today  than  ever  before.'  It  is  often  of  vital  sig- 
nificance that  we  should  know  definitely  what  possibilities 
the  nature  and  structure  of  a  sentence  afford  to  the  translator 
and  interpreter.  For  example,  in  Isa.  i :  i8,  it  makes  much 
difference  whether  we  render,  "Though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet, 
they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow;  though  they  be  red  like 
crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool";  or,  "If  your  sins  be  like 
scarlet,   can  they  be  as  white  as  snow?     If  they   be   red 

'The  best  comparative  grammar  of  the  Semitic  languages  at  present 
available  is  Carl  Brockelmann,  Grimdriss  der  ver glcichenden  Grammatik  der 
semitischen  Sprachen,  2  vols.  (New  York:  Lemcke  und  Buechner,  1908-13). 
A  condensed  edition  of  Vol.  I,  deaUng  with  phonetics  and  morphology  only, 
is  furnished  in  Brockelmann,  Kiirzgcfasste  vergleichende  Grammatik  der  semiti- 
schen Sprachen  (New  York:  Lemcke  und  Buechner,  1908). 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL         89 

like  crimson,  can  they  be  as  wool?"  The  determination  of 
the  true  meaning  here  involves  two  things:  a  close  study  of 
the  prophet's  line  of  argument  here  and  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  Hebrew  syntax. 

Much  work  remains  to  be  done.  Our  knowledge  of 
Hebrew  vocabulary  and  Hebrew  syntax,  is  even  yet  far 
from  exhaustive.  The  Hebrew  dictionary  is  continually 
being  enriched  by  fresh  materials  brought  in  by  the  cognates. 
Many  problems  of  syntactical  structure  remain  to  be  solved. 
For  example,  what  are  the  decisive  signs  of  an  interrogative 
sentence  which  lacks  the  ordinary  interrogative  particles  ?  Is 
the  usage  of  the  Hebrew  tense-forms  yet  correctly  analyzed  ? 
Have  we  as  yet  properly  treated  all  classes  of  clauses  intro- 
duced by  so-called  waw-conjunctive  and  w^iw-consecutive  ? 
The  history  of  Hebrew  syntax,  and,  indeed,  of  the  language  as 
a  whole,  remains  to  be  written.  But  many  preliminary  and 
detailed  studies  must  be  carried  through  before  it  can  be 
satisfactorily  done. 

Obscure  passages. — When  the  Hebrew  lexicographer  and 
grammarian  shall  have  said  their  last  word,  there  will  still 
remain  many  a  passage  which  will  defy  successful  translation — 
and  that,  too,  not  because  of  the  ignorance  of  the  translator. 
The  fact  is  that,  in  many  cases,  the  Hebrew  text  as  it  stands 
presents  phenomena  in  direct  conflict  with  the  best-known 
facts  of  Hebrew  grammar.  This  raises  at  once  a  suspicion 
as  to  the  correctness  of  the  text  as  handed  down  and  leads 
the  translator  to  take  up  the  work  of  textual  criticism. 

II.    THE  TEXTUAL  CRITICISM  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT 
THE   AGE   OF   THE   EXISTING  MANUSCRIPTS 

In  any  attempt  to  get  at  a  writer's  thought  one  of  the 
first  things  to  be  done  is  to  determine  whether  or  not  the 
document  under  consideration  is  precisely  as  its  author  left 
it.     If  we  have  before  us  the  actual  manuscript  as  originally 


QO  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

prepared,  and  if  the  manuscript  is  clearly  written  and  well 
preserved,  the  task  of  the  textual  critic  is  reduced  to  a  mini- 
mum. But  when,  as  is  the  case  with  the  Old  Testament 
writings,  the  original  manuscripts  lie  by  thousands  of  years 
in  the  past  and  their  contents  are  available  only  in  copies, 
then  the  labors  and  problems  of  the  textual  critic  rapidly 
multiply. 

Modern  editions  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  all  practically  repro- 
duce the  text  as  edited  by  Jacob  ben  Hayyim  in  the  second 
edition-  of  the  Bomberg  Bible  (1524-25  a.d.).  The  best 
of  these  modern  Bibles  are  the  following:  (i)  Bihlia  Hehraica 
edited  by  R.  Kittel,  2d  ed.  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1913.)  This 
gives  a  limited  conspectus  of  variant  reading  from  the  versions 
and  of  conjectural  emendations  at  the  foot  of  every  page. 

(2)  The  texts  of  the  individual  books  edited  by  S.  Baer  and 
Franz  Deli tzsch  (Leipzig:  Tauchnitz,  1869-95).  These  editions 
offer  a  revised  Massoretic  text,  collations  of  various  manu- 
scripts, and  critical  textual  notes.  The  books  from  Exodus  to 
Deuteronomy  inclusive  were  never  published  in  this  series. 

(3)  The  very  best  editions  of  the  Massoretic  text  are  those  by 
David  Ginsburg.  He  first  published  Four  and  Twenty  Holy 
Books  Carefully  Edited  after  the  Massorah  and  after  Earliest 
Editions  (London:  Trinitarian  Bible  Society,  1894).  This 
was  put  out  again  in  a  cheap  edition  by  the  Trinitarian  Bible 
Society  (London,  1906).  From  this  edition  were  eliminated 
all  the  variant  readings  from  Massoretic  manuscripts  which 
were  incorporated  in  the  first  edition.  The  same  text  was 
published  again  with  a  far  more  comprehensive  array  of 
variant  readings  (London:  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
1908-11).  This  is  the  standard  edition  of  the  Massoretic 
text  as  far  as  it  goes;  the  "Writings,"  viz.,  Psalms,  Job,  etc., 
remain  to  be  published. 

Texts  like  the  foregoing  are  constructed  upon  the  basis 
of  a  careful  and  exhaustive  comparison  of  all  existing  Hebrew 
manuscripts  and  printed  editions.     No  printed  edition  goes 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL  91 

farther  back  than  1477  a.d.  The  oldest  of  the  manuscripts 
now  existing,  of  which  there  are  approximately  two  thousand, 
go  back  only  as  far  as  the  latter  part  of  the  ninth  century 
A.D.,  with  the  exception  of  one  fragment  containing  the 
Decalogue  and  Deut.  6:4.  This  latter  fragment  belongs 
apparently  to  the  second  century  a.d.  It  exhibits  a  form  of 
the  Decalogue,  presenting  many  textual  variations  from  the 
recensions  of  Exod.,  chap.  20,  and  Deut.,  chap.  5,  but  accords 
on  the  whole  more  nearly  with  the  latter  than  with  the  former 
passage.  The  remarkable  fact  regarding  the  rest  of  the 
manuscripts  is  the  slight  amount  of  variation  among  them. 
What  variation  there  is,  is  of  relatively  slight  importance,  being 
for  the  most  part  due  to  easily  recognizable  errors  and  pecu- 
liarities of  copyists.  They  all  represent  what  is  known  as  the 
Massoretic  text.  This  text  was  established  some  time  in  the 
early  Christian  centuries  and  succeeded  in  displacing  all  other 
texts.  There  developed  different  schools  of  Massoretic 
scribes,  representing  somewhat  different  interpretations  of 
the  textual  tradition,  but  they  all  sought  to  perpetuate 
essentially  the  same  text  and  to  guard  it  from  error  by  most 
scrupulous  precautions. 

Literature  on  the  Massoretic  text. — For  the  history  of  the  Massoretic 
text  the  following  will  be  found  invaluable:  CD.  Ginsburg,  Introduction 
to  the  Massoretico-Critical  Edition  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  (London:  Trini- 
tarian Bible  Society,  1897);  A.  S.  Geden,  Outlines  of  Introduction  to  the 
Hebrew  Bible  (Edinburgh:  T.  &  T.  Clark,  1909);  F.  C.  Burkitt,  article 
"Text  and  Versions,"  Encyclopaedia  Biblica,  IV  (1903);  H.  L.  Strack, 
article  "Text  of  the  Old  Testament,"  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible, 
IV  (1902);  P.  Kahle,  Der  masoretische  Texte  des  Alten  Testaments 
nach  der  tfberliefcrung  der  babylonischen  Juden  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs, 
1902);  P.  Kahle,  Masoreten  des  Ostens.  Die  dltesten  piinktierten  Hand- 
schriften  des  Alten  Testaments  und  der  Targume  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1913). 
Collations  of  many  Hebrew  manuscripts  will  be  found  in  Kennicott's 
Vetus  Testamentum  Hebr.  cum  variis  lectionibus,  2  folio  vols.  (Oxford, 
1776-80);  in  De  Rossi's  Variae  lectiones  Veteris  Testamenti  (Parma, 
1784-88)  and  Scholia  critica  in  Veteris  Testamenti  libros  (1798);  and  in 
C.  D.  Ginsburg's  edition  of  the  Massoretic  text,  published  in  1908  ff. 


92  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

THE  STATE  OE  THE   MASSORETIC  TEXT 

The  word  Massora  means  "tradition,"  and  the  Massoretic 
scribes  were  so  called  because  they  aimed  at  nothing  more 
than  the  reproduction  of  the  text  as  it  had  been  handed 
down  by  tradition.  Yet  the  Massoretes  themselves  recog- 
nized the  fact  that  the  traditional  text  was  not  in  perfect 
condition.  This  is  evidenced  by  the  preservation  of  two  sets 
of  readings,  the  Kethihh  and  the  Qeri.  The  former  repre- 
sents the  traditional  consonantal  text,  the  authority  of  which 
was  so  great  that  it  could  not  be  set  aside;  the  latter  is  the 
emended  text  proposed  by  the  Massoretes  as  a  substitute  for 
the  traditional  text.  For  example,  in  Isa.  46:  ii,  the  Kethihh 
has  "man  of  his  counsel";  the  Qeri  has  "man  of  my  counsel." 
In  Ezek.  48:16,  the  Kethihh  has  "five"  twice,  the  Qeri  only 
once;  and  in  Jer.  51:3  the  same  is  true  of  the  word  "bend." 
The  Qeri  is  not  always  an  improvement  upon  the  Kethihh;  but 
it  shows  that  the  scribes  did  not  regard  the  traditional  text 
as  free  from  errors. 

In  addition  to  the  corrections  offered  by  the  Qeri,  the 
Massoretes  compiled  a  list  of  passages  which  they  recognized 
as  now  presenting  a  different  text  from  the  original.  These 
are  eighteen  in  number  and  are  known  as  "the  emendations  of 
the  scribes"  {tiqqune  sopherim).  The  passages  involved  are 
Gen.  18:22;  Num.  11:15;  12:12;  I  Sam,  3:13;  II  Sam. 
16:12;  20:1;  I  Kings  12:16;  II  Chron.  10:16;  Jer.  2:11; 
Ezek.  8:17;  Hos.  4:7;  Hab.  1:12;  Zech.  2:8  (in  Heb.  2: 12); 
Mai.  1:13;  Ps.  106:20;  Job  7: 20;  32:3;  and  Lam.  3:20.  In 
Hab.  1:12,  for  example,  the  present  text  offers,  "we  shall 
not  die  " ;  the  Massoretic  testimony  is  that  the  original  reading 
was,  "thou  diest  not." 

Though  the  Massoretes  formulated  a  set  of  rules  providing 
for  the  copying  of  the  Old  Testament  manuscripts  in  the 
most  painstaking  and  accurate  manner,  so  that  the  text  they 
established  has  been  perpetuated  in  the  precise  form  in  which 
they  left  it,  very  many  errors  had  crept  into  it  before  it 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL         93 

reached  their  hands.  Most  of  these  were  of  the  kind  com- 
monly made  by  copyists;  e.g.,  confusion  of  similar  letters; 
the  wrong  grouping  of  letters  into  words  ;^  the  repetition  of 
letters,  words  and  phrases  (known  as  dittography) ;  the  writing 
of  letters,  words,  or  phrases  only  once,  where  they  should  have 
been  written  twice  (known  as  haplography) ;  the  confusion 
of  similar  sounds,  and  the  elision  of  words  or  phrases  due 
to  their  being  between  two  occurrences  of  the  same  word, 
so  that  the  eye  of  the  scribe  after  leaving  the  manuscript 
where  the  word  first  occurred  returned  to  the  manuscript 
where  the  word  occurred  the  second  time,  thus  omitting  the 
intervening  material.  Other  errors  were  due  to  the  damaged 
or  illegible  condition  of  the  manuscript  serving  as  copy, 
so  that  the  scribe  misread  it.  Some  also  were  due  to  the  delib- 
erate "corrections"  of  copyists  and  editors  who  considered  the 
text  in  need  of  improvement  of  various  kinds.  Of  the  many 
errors  arising  in  these  and  other  ways  the  Massortes  have 
indicated  but  a  very  small  proportion.  Much  remains  to 
be  done. 

EMENDATION  OF  THE  TEXT 

There  are  three  main  sources  of  help  in  the  discovery  and 
correction  of  errors,  viz.:  (i)  the  examination  of  duplicate 
passages;  (2)  the  comparison  of  the  various  versions;  and 
(3)  scientifically  controlled  conjecture. 

Examination  of  duplicate  passages. — The  first  of  these 
methods  is,  of  course,  capable  of  application  only  in  a  limited 
area.  There  are  certain  sections  of  the  Old  Testament  which 
are  found  repeated  almost  verbatim.  For  example,  Ps.  18  = 
II  Sam.  22;  Ps.  i4  =  Ps.  53;  Isa.  36-39  =  !!  Kings  18:13 — 
20:19;  Isa.  2:2-4  =  Mic.  4:1-3;  Exod.  20:  i-i7=Deut. 
5:6-21;  Ezra  2:i-7o=Neh.  7:6-73;  and  large  sections  of 
Samuel  and  Kings  are  incorporated  in  the  Books  of  Chronicles. 

'  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  early  Hebrew  writing  words  were  not 
separated  one  from  another,  but  that  the  letters  were  written  continuously 
without  any  break  between  words.     This  affords  large  room  for  error  in  reading. 


94  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Comparison  of  passage  with  passage  reveals  many  variations 
between  the  two,  and  that  which  is  wrong  in  the  one  may  be 
right  in  the  other.  For  example,  II  Chron.  22:11  retains 
"and  put  him,"  which  has  been  lost  from  the  Hebrew  text  of 
II  Kings  11:2.  These  duplicate  passages  are  of  great  value, 
particularly  in  revealing  to  us  the  kinds  of  errors  into  which 
Hebrew  copyists  were  liable  to  fall  and  the  degree  of  depar- 
ture from  the  original  that  was  possible  on  the  part  of  a  copy- 
ist or  series  of  copyists.  Between  Isa.  2 : 2-4,  for  example, 
and  Mic.  4: 1-3,  there  are  no  less  than  twelve  variations. 

Comparison  of  ancient  versions. — ^The  second  method  for 
the  detection  and  correction  of  errors  is  a  much  more  compli- 
cated and  indirect  one.  The  great  ancient  versions  of  the  Old 
Testament  were  prepared  at  times  all  antedating  the  fixing 
of  the  Massoretic  text  and  in  some  cases  certainly  upon  the 
basis  of  texts  belonging  to  recensions  wholly  different  from 
the  Massoretic.  Through  these  versions  we  are  thus  enabled 
to  get  behind  the  Massoretic  text  and  in  very  many  cases  to 
improve  upon  it. 

a)  The  Septuagint:  The  most  important  of  these  versions 
is  the  Septuagint,  the  Greek  translation  made  for  the  Jews  of 
Alexandria,  which  became  the  Bible  of  both  the  Jewish  and  the 
early  Christian  communities.  The  oldest  portion  of  this 
Greek  version,  viz.,  the  translation  of  the  Pentateuch,  goes 
back  probably  to  the  days  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  (285- 
246  B.C.).  The  entire  Old  Testament  was  probably  put  into 
Greek  by  the  close  of  the  first  century  B.C. 

The  task  of  discovering  the  Hebrew  text  that  lies  behind 
the  Septuagint  cannot  be  satisfactorily  performed  until  we 
have  determined  the  text  of  the  Septuagint  itself.  The  his- 
tory of  the  Septuagint  shows  that  in  the  early  Christian 
centuries  it  was  current  in  at  least  three  recensions,  viz., 
that  of  Origen,  that  of  Lucian,  and  that  of  Hesychius.  The 
text  of  the  Septuagint  is  now  extant  in  a  large  number  of  manu- 
scripts, both  uncials  and  cursives.     The  more  important  of 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL  95 

these  codices  are  the  Vatican,  the  Alexandrine,  Sinaiticus, 
Marchalianus,  Ephraem  Syrus,  Sarravianus,  Petropolitanus, 
Coislinianus,  Taurinensis,  and  Cryptoferratensis.  The  task 
of  careful  and  minute  comparison  and  collation  of  these  and 
the  many  other  codices  and  manuscripts  for  the  purpose  of 
grouping  them  according  to  their  common  characteristics,  and 
of  determining  their  relations  to  the  three  great  recensions, 
or  the  necessity  of  recognizing  still  other  recensions,  is  now 
occupying  the  time  and  energy  of  Septuagint  scholars.  When 
it  shall  have  been  completed,  we  shall  have  before  us  the  main 
types  of  Septuagint  text  accepted  in  the  early  Christian 
centuries.  It  will  then  be  in  order  to  determine  whether  these 
recensions  presuppose  one  common  text  from  which  they 
are  all  derived,  or  rather  point  to  the  fact  that  there  was  prior 
to  the  third  century  a.d.  no  single  authoritative  translation, 
but  two  or  more  competing  versions. 

1.  The  Old  Latin  Version. — As  further  aids  in  fixing  the 
text  of  the  Septuagint,  we  have  certain  translations  made 
from  it  into  other  languages.  First  may  be  mentioned  the 
Old  Latin  Version.  This  translation  was  made  from  a  Greek 
text  which  antedated  all  three  of  the  known  recensions  of  the 
Septuagint  mentioned  above.  ''The  Old  Latin,  in  its  purest 
types,  carries  us  behind  all  our  existing  MSS  and  is  sometimes 
nearer  to  the  Septuagint,  as  the  church  received  that  version 
from  the  Synagogue,  than  the  oldest  of  our  uncial  MSS. 
Readings  which  have  disappeared  from  every  known  Greek 
MS  are  here  and  there  preserved  by  the  daughter-version, 
and  in  such  cases  the  Old  Latin  becomes  a  primary  authority 
for  the  Greek  text. "^ 

2 .  The  Syro-  Hexaplar  Version. — Another  daughter- version 
of  the  Septuagint  is  the  so-called  Syro-Hexaplar  text.  This  is 
a  literal  Syriac  translation,  by  Paul  of  Telia,  in  616-17  ^■^•>  of 
the  fifth  column  of  Origen's  Hexapla,  which  contained  his  recen- 
sion of  the  Septuagint.     The  Syro-Hexaplar  reproduces  the 

'Swete,  Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament  in  Greek,  2d  ed.  (1914),  p.  493. 


96  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

apparatus  devised  by  Origen  to  indicate  the  relation  of  his 
revised  Greek  text  to  the  current  Hebrew  text  of  his  day.  The 
testimony  of  the  Syro-Hexaplar  is  therefore  of  the  greatest 
value  for  the  history  of  the  Septuagint  text  in  general  and  for 
the  determination  of  Origen's  recension  in  particular. 

3.  Other  daughter-versions. — Other  daughter- versions  of 
value  are  (i)  the  Coptic,  in  three  recensions,  the  Bohairic,  the 
Sahidic,  and  the  Middle  Egyptian,  which  was  probably  made 
at  least  as  early  as  the  third  century  a.d.;  (2)  the  Armenian 
version  which  is  a  very  slavish  rendering  from  the  Greek,  and 
hence  helpful  as  a  witness  to  the  recension  of  Origen,  whose 
text  it  seems  to  reflect;  (3)  the  Slavonic  Old  Testament,  which 
on  the  other  hand,  in  so  far  as  it  is  a  rendering  from  the 
Septuagint,  is  generally  recognized  as  reflecting  the  Lucianic 
recension. 

Literature  on  the  Septuagint  and  daughter-versions . — The  best  handy 
edition  of  the  Septuagint  is  H.  B.  Swete's  Old  Testament  in  Greek  accord- 
ing to  the  Septuagint,  3  vols.  (Cambridge:  University  Press,  1887-94); 
and  a  special  volume,  Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament  in  Greek  (1900), 
2d  ed.,  by  R.  R.  Ottley  (Cambridge:  University  Press,  1914).  This 
edition  presents  the  text  of  the  Vatican  Codex,  with  a  limited  selection 
of  collateral  readings  from  the  more  important  parallel  codices.  The 
standard  edition  of  the  Septuagint  is  now  being  published  by  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge,  under  the  editorship  of  A.  E.  Brooke  and  Norman 
McLean.  This,  too,  presents  the  Vatican  text,  but  it  greatly  extends 
the  citation  of  collateral  readings.  Three  parts  (1906-11),  extending 
from  Genesis  to  Deuteronomy,  have  thus  far  appeared.  The  old  col- 
lection of  readings  in  Holmes  and  Parsons,  Vetus  Testamentum  Graecum 
cum  variis  lectionibus,  4  vols.  (1827),  is  meantime  the  student's  best 
friend.  The  publications  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Gottingen,  known 
as  Mitteilungen  des  Septuaginta-Unternehmens  der  Koniglichen  Gesell- 
schaft  der  Wissenschaften  zu  Gottingen,  are  valuable  contributions  to  the 
classification  of  the  Septuagint  manuscripts.  Thus  far  there  have 
appeared:  E.  Hautsch,  Der  Lukian-text  des  Oktateuch  (1910);  P.  Glaue 
und  A.  Rahlfs,  Fragmente  einer  griechischen  Ubersetzung  des  samaritan- 
ischen  Pentateuchs  (19 11);  E.  Grosse-Brauckmann,  ZJer  Psalter-Text  bei 
Theodoret  (191 1).  O.  Procksch's  Studien  zur  Geschichte  der  Septuaginta 
(Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1910)  is  an  important  contribution  to  the  same  task. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL  97 

P.  de  Lagarde  outlined  a  program  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  text  of 
LXX  in  his  Ankiindigung  einer  neiien  Ausgahe  der  griechischen  Ubersetzung 
des  Alien  Testaments  (1882)  and  published  the  first  half  of  his  edition  of 
the  Lucianic  recension  in  Librorum  Veteris  Testamenti  canonicorum  pars 
prior  (1883).  Rahlfs,  a  pupil  of  Lagarde,  carried  on  his  work  in  Septua- 
ginta-Studien,  I,  Books  of  Kings  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Rup- 
recht,  1904);  II,  Psalter  (1907);  III,  Lucian's  recension  of  Kings  (1911). 
The  vocabulary  of  LXX  is  rendered  accessible  by  Hatch  and  Redpath's 
Concordance  to  the  Septuagint,  in  three  parts  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press, 
1892-1906).  The  grammar  of  LXX  is  treated  by  H.  St.  J.  Thackeray 
in  his  Grammar  of  the  Old  Testament  in  Greek  (Cambridge:  University 
Press,  1909) ;  by  R.  Helbing,  in  Grammatik  des  Septuaginta,  Laut-  und 
Wort-Lehre  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1907);  and  by 
Jean  Psichari,  in  Essai  sur  le  Grec  de  la  Septante  (1908) . 

The  Old  Latin  text  is  preserved  only  in  fragments,  and  these  are 
scattered  over  many  manuscripts  and  editions.  The  text  of  the  Minor 
Prophets  has  been  edited  by  W.  O.  E.  Oesterley,  and  published  in  the 
Journal  of  Theological  Studies,  Vols.  V  and  VI.  The  same  kind  of  work 
is  waiting  to  be  done  for  the  entire  Old  Testament. 

The  Syro-Hexaplar  text  has  been  edited  and  published  piecemeal  by 
a  succession  of  scholars.  The  titles  will  be  found  in  Swete's  Introduction 
to  the  Old  Testament  in  Greek  (1914),  p.  113.  To  the  list  there  given 
we  should  add  J.  Gwynn,  Remnants  of  the  Later  Syriac  Versions  of  the 
Bible  (London:  Williams  &  Norgate,  1909).  The  editions  of  the  Coptic 
versions  wUl  also  be  found  listed  by  Swete  and  Ottley  on  pp.  107  and 
503  f- 

h)  Aquila,  Symmachus,  and  Theodotion. — Three  other 
Greek  versions  are  of  exceptional  value.  The  translation  by 
Aquila  was  made  about  130  a.d.,  directly  from  the  Hebrew  of 
his  time.  Its  purpose  was  to  provide  a  version  more  service- 
able to  the  Jews  than  the  Septuagint,  which  was  held  by  the 
Jews  to  have  suffered  perversion  at  the  hands  of  Christian 
apologetes.  The  virtue  of  Aquila's  rendering,  from  the  point 
of  view  of  textual  criticism,  is  its  painfully  literal  character. 
Thus  the  Hebrew  upon  which  it  was  based  is  easily  discerned 
through  it.  The  translation  by  Theodotion  is  less  valuable. 
It  was  made  with  the  Hebrew  text  in  view,  but  was  rather  a 
free  revision  of  the  Septuagint  than  an  independent  rendering. 


98  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

It  dates  from  about  i8o  a.d.  The  translation  by  Symmachus 
is  a  free  rendering,  made  about  200  B.C.,  with  the  aid  of  the 
Septuagint  and  Theodotion's  version,  on  the  basis  of  the 
Hebrew.  The  ttebrew  text  used  by  all  three  of  these  versions 
was  one  ahnost  identical  with  the  Massoretic  text.  These 
versions  were  all  incorporated  in  Origen's  Hexapla.  The 
fragments  that  survive  will  be  found  chiefly  in  Field's  great 
work,  Origenis  Hexaplorum  quae  supersunt,  2  vols.  (1875). 
See  also  F.  C.  ^urkitt,  Fragments  of  the  Book  of  Kings  ac- 
cording to  the  Translation  of  Aquila  (London:  Clay,  1897); 
and  Taylor's  Sayings  of  the  Jewish  Fathers,  2d  ed.  (Cam- 
bridge:   University  Press,  1897). 

c)  The  Samaritan  Pentateuch. — -The  Samaritan  Penta- 
teuch is  really  not  a  version,  but  the  edition  of  the  Hebrew 
text  used  by  the  Samaritan  community.  It  exhibits  about 
six  thousand  variations  from  the  Massoretic  text,  most  of 
them  merely  orthographic.  Aside  from  some  deliberate 
changes  and  additions  clearly  made  to  subserve  the  Samaritan 
claims,  the  text  is  essentially  the  same  as  that  of  the  Mas- 
soretes.  This  carries  the  Massoretic  text  of  the  Pentateuch 
back  at  least  to  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  century  B.C. 
The  Samaritan  makes  but  little  contribution  to  the  correction 
of  the  Massoretic  text.  It  will  be  found  in  both  the  Paris  and 
the  London  Polyglots.  A  critical  edition  is  under  way  under 
the  editorship  of  Freiherr  von  Gall;  parts  1-3  extending 
through  Leviticus  have  thus  far  appeared  (Giessen:  Topel- 
mann,  1914-). 

d)  The  Targums. — -The  targums  are  Aramaic  versions  and 
paraphrases  of  the  Hebrew  text.  The  main  ones  are  the 
targum  of  Onkelos,  which  covers  the  Pentateuch,  and  that  of 
Jonathan,  which  deals  with  the  Prophets.  The  oldest  of 
them  dates  from  no  earlier  than  the  fourth  or  fifth  century 
A.D.,  and  in  their  present  form  they  belong  to  a  much  later 
date.  The  targum  of  Onkelos  is  a  fairly  close  rendering 
of  the  Hebrew;    the  targum  of  Jonathan  is  much  more  free 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL         99 

and  in  the  prophetic  books  is  often  very  periphrastic.  Very 
Httle  textual  aid  is  to  be  derived  from  any  of  the  targums. 
The  targums  are  contained  in  the  Paris  and  London  Polyglots, 
and  the  prophetic  portions  are  given  in  Lagarde's  Prophetae 
Chaldaice  (1872). 

e)  The  Peshittd. — The  Syriac  version,  known  as  the 
Peshitta,  was  made  directly  from  the  Hebrew,  though  it 
reflects  a  good  deal  of  influence  from  the  Septuagint,  espe- 
cially in  the  case  of  the  prophets  and  Psalms.  The  name 
Peshitta,  which  means  "simple,"  probably  contrasts  this 
version  made  from  the  Hebrew  with  other  Syriac  versions, 
like  the  Syro-Hexaplar,  which  came  through  the  Greek. 
The  Hebrew  text  used  seems  to  have  been  practically  identical 
with  our  present  Massoretic  text.  The  cases  of  departure 
from  it  are  relatively  very  few,  and  the  translation  therefore 
is  correspondingly  weak  as  an  aid  to  textual  criticism.  Only 
occasionally  does  it  afford  genuine  help.  The  date  of  the 
translation  is  unknown.  The  oldest  known  Syriac  manuscript 
bears  the  date  464  a.d.,  and  is  the  oldest  dated  manuscript  of 
either  Old  or  New  Testament  now  known  in  any  language.  A 
critical  edition  of  the  Syriac  text  is  an  urgent  need. 

Note. — The  version  is  now  accessible  in  the  Paris  and  London 
Polyglots;  in  Lee's  edition,  published  by  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  (1823),  which  reproduces  the  text  of  the  Polyglots;  in 
the  edition  by  the  American  Mission  Press  at  Urumiah  (1852),  which 
reprinted  Lee's  edition;  in  the  edition  published  at  Mosul  in  1887-92; 
and  in  M.  Altschueler,  Die  Syrische  Bibel-Version  Peschita  im  Urtext 
(Leipzig:  Verlag  "Lumen,"  1908),  which  has  progressed  thus  far  only 
through  the  Pentateuch,  and  is  a  mere  reprint  of  Lee's  text. 

The  kind  of  work  needed  on  the  Peshitta  is  illustrated  by  W.  E. 
Barnes's  Apparatus  Criticus  to  Chronicles  in  the  Peshitta  Version  (Cam- 
bridge: University  Press,  1897),  and  by  his  Peshitta  Psalter  according  to 
the  West  Syrian  Text,  with  an  Apparatus  Criticus  (Cambridge:  University 
Press,  1904),  and  by  G.  Diettrich's  Ein  Apparatus  Criticus  zur  Pesitto 
zum  Propheten  Jesaja  (Giessen:  Topelmann,  1905).  Cf.  Ch.  Heller, 
Untersuchungen  iiber  die  Peschittd  zur  gesammten  hebraisclten  Bibel 
(Berlin:  Itzkowski,  191 1). 


lOO        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

/)  The  Vulgate. — The  Latin  Vulgate  was  begun  by  Jerome 
in  390  A.D.  and  completed  in  405  a.d.,  and  by  the  beginning  of 
the  seventh  century  was  in  common  use  among  the  Latin 
churches.  This  version,  too,  was  made  directly  from  the 
Hebrew;  but  its  Hebrew  was  essentially  the  Massoretic  text. 
The  Vulgate  has  suffered  the  penalty  of  being  a  popular  version 
in  that  it  has  departed  frequently  from  its  original  form. 
Many  manuscripts  are  extant. 

Note. — A  good  edition  of  the  official  text  has  been  produced  by 
Michael  Hetzenauer,  Bihlia  Sacra  Vulgatae  Editionis  (Venice,  1906). 
The  revision  of  this,  printed  at  Rome  ( 1 9 1 4) ,  is  the  most  practical  student 's 
edition.  The  official  edition  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  is  that  made 
by  Pope  Sixtus  V  (1585-90)  and  revised  by  authority  of  Pope  Clement 
VIII  in  1592,  which  was  issued  in  a  third  edition  in  1598.  The  present 
Biblical  Commission,  appointed  by  Pope  Leo  XIII  and  confirmed  by 
Pope  Pius  X,  has  been  authorized  to  prepare  a  new  and  revised  edition 
of  this  Clementine  text. 

Conjectural  emendations. — When  everything  possible  has 
been  done  in  the  way  of  the  comparison  of  passage  with  passage 
and  version  with  version,  there  will  still  remain  many  a 
passage  which  defies  successful  translation  or  interpretation 
by  reason  of  its  having  become  corrupted  in  transmission  at 
a  very  early  stage.  It  is  beyond  question  that  in  many  cases 
the  text  was  already  corrupt  when  the  translators  of  LXX 
knew  it.  Under  these  circumstances  the  only  recourse  for 
the  textual  student  is  to  scientific  conjecture.  Emphasis 
should  be  laid  upon  "scientific."  The  kind  of  conjecture 
required  is  that  controlled  by  full  knowledge  of  the  factors 
entering  into  the  textual  situation  and  by  sound  judgment. 
This  involves  familiarity  with  the  kinds  of  errors  commonly 
made  by  copyists;  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet  in  all 
of  its  changing  forms,  rendering  it  possible  to  trace  con- 
fusion of  similar  letters;  a  thorough  knowledge  of  Hebrew 
grammar  and  lexicography;  a  tireless  industry,  which  will 
not  shrink  from  a  thoroughgoing  comparison  of  all  the  render- 
ings of  the  versions  and  of  the  textual  readings  they  pre- 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       loi 

suppose;  and  a  clear  understanding  of  the  course  of  thought  in 
the  passage  involved,  that  the  reading  proposed  may  har- 
monize with  the  context.  This  conjectural  procedure  can 
never  yield  certainty,  but  it  will  produce  varying  degrees  of 
probability,  according  to  the  difhculty  of  the  problem  and  the 
learning  and  judgment  of  the  critic.  In  some  cases  the 
only  choice  for  the  scientific  translator  is  between  the  adoption 
of  such  conjectural  readings  and  a  frank  confession  that  the 
passage  in  question  is  hopelessly  corrupt  and  unintelligible. 
A  satisfactory  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  upon  the 
basis  of  a  critically  restored  text  must  wait  until  much  pre- 
liminary investigation  has  been  done  by  the  textual  critic. 

Additional  literature  on  textual  criticism. — In  addition  to  works 
already  mentioned,  we  must  call  attention  to  the  following:  F.  C.  Burkitt, 
article  "Text  and  Versions,"  Encyclopaedia  Biblica  (1903) ;  H.  L.  Strack, 
article  "Text  of  the  Old  Testament,"  Hastings'  Dictionary  oj  the  Bible 
(1902);  G.  B.  Gray,  article  "Text,  Versions,  and  Languages  of  the  Old 
Testament,"  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible  (in  i  vol.,  1909);  F.  Buhl, 
Canon  and  Text  of  the  Old  Testament  (Edinburgh:  T.  &  T.  Clark,  1892); 
T.  H.  Weir,  A  Short  History  of  the  Hebrew  Text  of  the  Old  Testament 
(London:  Williams  &  Norgate,  1899) ;  S.  R.  Driver,  Notes  on  the  Hebrew 
Text  and  the  Topography  of  the  Books  of  Samuel,  with  an  Introduction  on 
Hebrew  Palaeography  and  the  Ancient  Versions,  2d  ed.  (Oxford:  Claren- 
don Press,  1913);  Bleek-Wellhausen,  Einleitung  in  das  Alte  Testament, 
4th  ed.  (Berlin:  Reimer,  1878),  pp.  563-643;  C.  Steuernagel,  Lehrbuch 
der  Einleitung  in  das  Alte  Testament  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1912),  pp.  19-85; 
C.  H.  Cornill,  Das  Buch  des  Propheten  Ezechiel  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs, 
1886);   A.  Geiger,  Urschrift  und  Uebersetzungen  der  Bibel  (1857). 

It  is,  of  course,  clear  that  the  task  of  the  thoroughgoing 
textual  critic  is  so  complex  and  laborious  that  only  a  very  few 
students  have  the  requisite  tools  for  it  or  can  give  the  time 
necessary  to  secure  the  proper  equipment  for  it.  The  majority 
must  be  content  with  but  a  relatively  slight  degree  of  tech- 
nique. With  a  working  knowledge  of  Hebrew,  Greek,  and 
Latin  a  very  clear  conception  of  the  nature  of  the  work  to  be 
done  can  be  attained  and  considerable  progress  achieved  in  its 
actual  accomplishment.     As  a  beginning  no  better  step  can 


I02        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

be  taken  than  that  of  comparing  a  large  number  of  parallel 
passages  in  the  Hebrew  Old  Testament  and  registering  the 
variations  there  found  and  the  nature  of  the  error  involved. 
Then  to  get  well  on  the  way  the  student  should  take  up 
Driver's  Notes  on  the  Text  of  the  Books  of  Samuel  (1913)  and 
work  through  it  thoroughly.  This  will  give  familiarity  with 
the  methods  of  criticism  and  the  sources  of  information.  After 
that  the  textual  criticism  of  any  book,  to  the  extent  that  the 
student's  linguistic  and  technical  equipment  makes  possible, 
may  be  entered  upon. 

THE    OMISSION    OF    HEBREW    FROM    THE    PRESCRIBED    COURSE 
FOR   THE   DEGREE    OF   D.B. 

All  the  work  thus  far  outlined  involves  a  wilhngness  on 
the  part  of  the  student  to  undertake  a  course  of  hard  study  in 
at  least  Hebrew  and  Greek.  From  this  labor  many  students 
are  precluded  either  by  mental  ineptitude  for  this  kind  of 
study  or  by  a  desire  to  turn  their  energies  in  other  directions. 
Indeed,  on  December  21,  1898,  the  Divinity  Faculty  of  the 
University  of  Chicago,  upon  the  initiation  of  the  late  President 
Harper,  Head  of  the  Department  of  Old  Testament  Language 
and  Literature,  voted  to  discontinue  the  requirement  of 
Hebrew  of  its  candidates  for  the  degree  of  D.B.,  placing  it 
on  the  list  of  electives.  For  the  previously  required  courses 
in  Hebrew,  there  were  substituted  certain  courses  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  English  Old  Testament,  which  called  for  an 
equal,  if  not  greater,  amount  of  work.  It  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  say  that  the  students  in  an  overwhelming  proportion 
have  chosen  the  English  courses  and  passed  by  the  Hebrew 
electives.  The  policy  has  since  commended  itself  to  many 
of  the  leading  theological  schools  of  the  United  States 
in  which  it  has  been  adopted,  e.g.,  the  Yale  School  of 
Religion,  the  General  Theological  Seminary  (Episcopal, 
New  York),  the  Rochester  Theological  Seminary,  the  Newton 
Theological  Institution,  the  Oberlin  Theological  Seminary. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       103 

the  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  the  Crozer  Theological  Semi- 
nary, and  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary. 

Students  who  forego  the  delight  of  studying  Hebrew  will, 
of  course,  always  be  dependent  upon  the  scholarship  of  others 
in  every  question  involving  the  translation  of  a  Hebrew 
passage,  the  meaning  of  a  Hebrew  word,  the  linguistic  testi- 
mony as  to  the  date  of  a  document,  the  poetic  forms  and 
characteristics  of  Hebrew  rhythmical  passages,  or  the  validity 
of  the  Hebrew  text.  One  consolation  is  that  such  a  student 
can  never  fully  know  how  much  he  has  lost.  Furthermore, 
if  the  student  goes  out  from  the  divinity  school  only  to  drop 
his  study  of  Hebrew  at  that  point,  it  is  fairly  certain  that  as 
a  rule  it  is  better  for  him  to  have  spent  his  time  in  the  class- 
room and  library  in  securing  an  intelligent  and  comprehensive 
view  of  the  Old  Testament  literature.  It  is  better  for  him  to 
know  how  this  literature  arose  and  to  appreciate  its  true  sig- 
nificance through  the  use  of  the  English  version  than  to  have 
gained  simply  a  smattering  of  Hebrew  of  which  he  expects 
to  make  no  further  use,  while  he  has  learned  very  little  of 
the  real  meaning  of  the  Old  Testament  as  a  whole  because 
his  time  has  been  spent  in  a  futile  study  of  the  language. 

HOW   BEST   TO    STUDY   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT   IN   ENGLISH 

The  student  who  knows  no  Hebrew  should  provide  him- 
self with  several  good  translations  and  be  very  careful  in 
choosing  his  commentaries.  By  reference  to  the  pages  of 
standard  biblical  journals  he  should  discover  for  himself 
those  commentaries  whose  translations  and  grammatical  inter- 
pretations are  most  trustworthy,  and  should  avoid  unscholarly 
works  as  he  would  the  plague. 

The  student  of  the  English  text  may  console  himself,  in 
part,  with  the  reflection  that  the  historico-critical  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament  places  relatively  Httle  stress  upon 
minute  verbal  exegesis.  That  has  its  place,  to  be  sure;  but 
the  main  matter  is  the  recovery  of  the  great  drift  of  Hebrew 


104        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

religious  thought  and  the  full  realization  of  the  conditions 
under  which  it  was  wrought  out.  It  is  a  far  more  vital  matter 
to  know  the  situation,  that  confronted  Amos,  for  example, 
and  the  main  outlines  of  his  teaching  and  attitude  toward 
the  problems  of  his  day,  than  it  is  to  know  precisely  what  was 
the  meaning  of  Amos  5:25  or  of  any  other  isolated  passage. 
Into  most  of  the  tasks  outlined  in  the  following  pages  the  stu- 
dent without  a  knowledge  of  Hebrew  can  enter  enthusiasti- 
cally, with  the  confidence  that  he  can  obtain  most  satisfactory 
results  despite  his  handicap  at  the  start. 


III.    LITERARY  CRITICISM  AND  THE  INTERPRETATION 
OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT 

THE   FUNCTION   OF    CRITICISM. 

The  function  of  criticism  is  appreciation,  not  depreciation, 
as  is  too  commonly  supposed.  It  seeks  to  present  each  object 
that  it  studies  in  its  true  light.  It  seeks  to  know  it  precisely 
as  it  is.  It  divests  it  of  all  error  and  prejudice  that  do  but 
befog  vision-  and  allows  it  to  stand  out  in  the  clear  light  of 
truth.  Only  thus  is  it  possible  for  true  appreciation  to  be 
enkindled  in  the  soul.  The  thing  studied  must  be  looked  at 
from  every  side,  and  the  conditions  amid  which  it  was  pro- 
duced must  be  clearly  understood,  if  its  value  is  to  be  rightly 
estimated  and  if  the  producer's  ability  is  to  be  properly 
evaluated.  The  capacity  for  critical  appreciation  needs 
careful  cultivation.  The  ability  to  see  a  thing  just  as  it  is 
seems  within  easy  reach  of  all;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  is 
possessed  by  relatively  few.  This  is  particularly  true  in 
the  field  of  literary  appreciation;  and  when  the  literature  in 
question  is  biblical,  obstructions  in  the  field  of  vision  rapidly 
multiply.  We  come  to  the  study  of  our  sacred  literature 
with  our  minds  already  closed  to  much  that  it  has  to  say 
to  us,  because  of  the  theories  and  prejudices  that  we 
entertain  regarding  this  whole  group  of  literature  in  general 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       105 

and  the  special  section  under  consideration  in  particular. 
The  truly  critical  interpreter  comes  to  the  literature  to  be 
interpreted  with  his  mind  free  from  all  restraining  and  obstruc- 
tive influences.  He  seeks  only  to  hear  what  the  literature 
itself  has  to  say.  He  insists  that  it  be  allowed  to  tell  its  own 
tale  and  to  make  its  own  impressions.  Intelligent  apprecia- 
tion springs  only  from  full  and  exact  knowledge  of  things  as 
they  are. 

Still  another  difficulty  that  all  too  easily  besets  the  inter- 
preter is  the  more  or  less  unconscious  feeling  that  the  Old 
Testament,  being  a  part  of  the  Bible,  must  always  be  of  value 
primarily  for  practical  purposes  of  edification.  Its  purpose 
must  be  that  of  stimulating  the  devotional  life.  Hence,  if  a 
passage,  when  read  in  its  natural  and  normal  meaning,  does 
not  seem  to  yield  material  for  spiritual  enrichment,  it  must  be 
re-examined  and  probed  until  some  hidden,  richer  significance 
is  discovered.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  there  are  whole 
pages  of  the  Old  Testament  that  can  in  and  of  themselves  by  no 
legitimate  methods  be  made  to  minister  to  the  soul's  welfare 
and  evidently  were  not  written  for  that  purpose.  Take,  for 
example,  the  genealogical  Hsts  that  occur  so  often.  The  Old 
Testament  is  "profitable  for  teaching,  for  reproof,  for  cor- 
rection, for  instruction  which  is  in  righteousness";  but  it 
does  not  yield  its  richest  treasures  to  those  who  seek  to  force 
it  to  say  what  they  expect  from  it.  A  facile,  superficial, 
homiletical  exposition  of  the  Old  Testament  misses  most  of 
its  highest  values.  Before  using  it  for  practical  purposes  we 
must  make  the  honest  effort  to  let  it  tell  its  message  in  its 
own  way. 

THE    CRITERIA   OF    POETRY 

The  critic,  therefore,  is  in  part  a  searcher  for  information. 
He  approaches  each  piece  of  literature  with  a  series  of  ques- 
tions. One  of  his  first  concerns  is  the  determination  of  the 
class  and  character  of  this  literature  with  which  he  is  dealing. 


io6         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Is  it  poetry  or  is  it  prose  ?  This  question  is  not  so  simple  as 
it  seems  at  first  thought.  Hebrew  manuscripts  do  not 
distinguish  between  the  two  by  writing  poetry  in  a  special 
poetic  form.  A  casual  look  at  a  page  of  Hebrew  as  printed 
even  in  our  older  Bibles  does  not  at  once  reveal  the  classi- 
fication to  which  it  belongs,  for  there  is  no  distinction  in  the 
arrangement  of  poetic  and  prose  lines.  It  becomes  necessary, 
therefore,  for  the  student  to  learn  to  recognize  poetry  by 
such  characteristics  of  form  and  content  as  are  independent 
of  copyist  and  printer.  This  recognition  of  poetry  as  such  is, 
of  course,  of  the  greatest  importance  for  interpretation.  No 
one  dreams  of  taking  poetic  statements  in  the  same  literal 
and  matter-of-fact  way  in  which  prose  utterances  are  inter- 
preted. It  is  of  the  essence  of  poetry  to  be  imaginative,  figur- 
ative, and  idealistic.  We  do  violence  to  the  spirit  of  poetry 
when  we  treat  it  as  a  mere  sober  statement  of  fact.  To  do  so 
is  utterly  to  misunderstand  the  point  of  view  and  purpose  of 
the  writer.  For  example,  we  should  hardly  treat  as  a  literal 
statement  of  fact  these  poetic  lines: 

The  mountains  skipped  like  rams, 
The  little  hills  like  Iambs  [Ps.  114:4]. 

Yet  it  is  by  no  means  always  easy  to  discriminate  between 
poetry  and  prose  in  the  Old  Testament.  At  the  present 
time  there  is  not  unanimity  of  judgment  in  this  matter.  Of 
course,  such  books  as  the  Psalms,  Proverbs,  Song  of  Songs, 
and  Job  commend  themselves  to  all  as  poetical.  There  is,  too, 
an  increasing  willingness  to  recognize  much  of  the  prophetic 
writings  as  poetry.  But  some  enthusiastic  students  of  Hebrew 
poetry  are  not  content  unless  we  declare  such  books  as  Genesis 
and  Samuel  to  be  poetic  also.  The  careful  study  of  the 
nature  and  form  of  Hebrew  poetry  is,  consequently,  a  duty 
incumbent  upon  every  interpreter  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Even  the  prophetic  books  take  on  a  different  atmosphere 
when  we  clearly  understand  the  significance  of  the  fact  that 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       107 

they  are  poetic  in  form  and  spirit.  How  much  greater  a 
change  in  our  attitude  would  result  were  we  to  conclude  that 
the  historical  books  too  are  poetry  and  not  prose ! 

Parallelism. — The  outstanding  formal  characteristic  of 
most  Hebrew  poetry  is  its  parallelismus  memhrorum.  This 
parallelism  is  represented  in  such  verses  as: 

In  Judah  is  God  known: 

His  name  is  great  in  Israel. 

In  Salem  also  is  his  tabernacle, 

And  his  dwelling-place  in  Zion  [Ps.  76:1,  2] 

The  statement  of  the  first  line  is  repeated  in  slightly  different 
form  in  the  second,  and  that  of  the  third  in  the  fourth.  This 
is  the  simplest  and  most  easily  recognizable  form,  and  is 
usually  designated  "synonymous  parallelism." 

Another  closely  similar  variety  is  called  "antithetic." 
It  is  represented  largely  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  e.g. : 

The  full  soul  loatheth  a  honeycomb ; 

But  to  the  hungry  soul  every  bitter  thing  is  sweet  127:7]. 

A  third  kind  is  known  as  "synthetic,"  since  two  or  more 
parallel  clauses  are  necessary  to  the  complete  thought.  For 
example : 

Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  deep  darkness, 
I  wUl  fear  no  evil;  for  thou  art  with  me; 
Thy  rod  and  thy  staff,  they  comfort  me. 

The  fact  of  such  departure  as  this  from  the  norm  of  strict 
parallelism  is  one  of  the  elements  that  enters  into  the  task  of 
deciding  between  poetry  and  prose.  If  the  parallel  form  is 
not  clearly  marked,  as  it  is  in  the  synonymous  and  antithetic 
varieties,  and  if  in  addition  the  poetic  quality  of  the  literature 
is  not  very  high,  it  is  not  an  altogether  simple  matter  to 
classify  it  correctly. 

Meter. — The  problem  of  meter  in  Hebrew  poetry  is  one 
still  far  from  solution.  How  are  the  parallel  lines  organized  ? 
Can  they  be  measured  by  poetic  feet?    Are  the  units  of 


io8         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

which  the  Hnes  are  composed  of  equal  length?  How  is 
length  determined — by  the  number  of  syllables  or  by  the 
number  of  words  ?  Does  the  nature  of  the  syllable  play  any 
part  in  the  calculation,  viz.,  whether  it  is  long  or  short?  Is 
the  same  meter  requisite  throughout  a  poem  or  may  there 
be  more  or  less  variation?  These  and  other  related  ques- 
tions still  call  for  decisive  answer.  Uncertainty  on  these 
matters  also  tends  to  increase  the  difficulty  of  distinguishing 
poetry  from  prose.  The  one  thing  in  this  sphere  that  seems 
fairly  certain  is  that  the  basis  of  the  poetic  line  is  accentual. 
We  count  the  number  of  word-accents  as  the  measure  of  the 
line.  In  general,  also,  the  length  of  the  lines  thus  deter- 
mined is  the  same  throughout  a  given  poem.  But  the 
usage  controlling  the  number  and  nature  of  the  unaccented 
syllables  that  accompany  each  accented  syllable  has  not  yet 
been  discovered. 

Literature  on  Hebrew  poetry. — General  treatments  of  the  character- 
istics of  Hebrew  poetry  are  furnished  by  the  following  works:  A.  R. 
Gordon,  The  Poets  of  the  Old  Testament  (New  York:  Hodder  &  Stoughton, 
1912);  N.  Schmidt,  The  Messages  of  the  Poets  (New  York:  Scribner, 
1911),  pp.  1-72;  B.  Duhm,  article  "Poetical  Literature,"  Encyclopaedia 
Biblica,  III  (1902);  K.  Budde,  article  "Poetry,"  Hastings'  Dictionary  of 
the  Bible,  IV  (1902) ;  Isaac  Taylor,  The  Spirit  of  the  Hebrew  Poetry  (1861) ; 
R.  Lowth,  De  sacra  poesi  Hebraeorum  (181 5);  J.  G.  Herder,  Vom  Geist 
der  hebrdischen  Poesie  (1787);  E.  Konig,  Stilistik,  Rhetorik  und  Poetik 
(Leipzig:  Dieterich,  1900);  C.  A.  Briggs,  General  Introduction  to  the 
Study  of  Holy  Scripture  (New  York:  Scribner,  1899),  pp.  355-426;  G.  A. 
Smith,  The  Early  Poetry  of  Israel  in  Its  Physical  and  Social  Origins 
(London:  Oxford  University  Press,  191 2). 

The  more  important  schemes  for  the  organization  of  Hebrew  meter 
are  presented  and  discussed  in  the  following:  W.  H.  Cobb,  A  Criticism 
of  Systems  of  Hebrew  Meter  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1905);  J.  Ley, 
Grundziige  des  Rhythmus  u.s.w.  in  der  hebrdischen  Poesie  (1875); 
G.  Bickell,  Carmina  Veteris  Testamenti  metrice  (1882);  J.  Ley,  Leitfaden 
der  Metrik  der  hebrdischen  Poesie  (1887);  H.  Grimme,  Grundziige  der 
hebrdischen Akzent-  mid  Vocallehre  (1896) ;  J. DoUer,  Rhythmus,  Metrik  und 
Strophik  in  der  biblisch-hebrdischen  Poesie  (Paderborn:  Schoningh,  1899) ; 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL        109 

E.  Sievers,  Metrische  Studien,  I:  Studien  zur  hebrdischen  Metrik  (Leipzig: 
Teubner,  1901);  II:  Die  hebr.  Genesis  (1904-5);  III:  Samuel  metrisch 
herausgegeben  (1907);  J.  W.  Rothstein,  Grundziige  des  hebrdischen 
Rhythmus  und  seiner  Formenbildung  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1909);  C.  L. 
Souvay,  Essai  sur  la  metrique  des  Psaumes  (St.  Louis :  Seminaire  Kenrick, 
1911). 

On  the  organization  of  strophes  in  Hebrew  poetry,  cf.,  in  addition, 
D.  H.  Miiller,  Die  Propheten  in  ihrer  ursprilnglichen  Form  (Vienna: 
Holder,  1896);  J.  K.  Zenner,  Die  Ch'orgesdnge  im  Buche  der  Psalmen 
(Freiburg  im  B. :  Herder,  1896) ;  D.  H.  Miiller,  Strophenbau  und  Respon- 
sion  (Vienna:  Holder,  1898);  C.  A.  Briggs,  A  Critical  and  Exegetical 
Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Psalms,  I  (New  York:  Scribner,  1906), 
pp.  xxxiv-xlviii. 

VARIETIES    OF   PROSE 

If  the  literary  product  under  consideration  turns  out  to  be 
prose,  the  critical  student  seeks  farther  to  know  to  what  class 
of  writings  it  belongs.  Is  it  historical  narrative,  concerned 
with  no  other  end  than  that  of  recording  events  exactly  as  they 
occurred  ?  Is  it  sermonic  or  didactic  in  character,  setting 
consciously  before  itself  the  end  of  instruction  and  edification  ? 
If  the  latter,  to  what  extent  is  its  treatment  of  history  con- 
trolled by  its  aim  ?  If  ostensibly  historical,  is  it  really  so  ? 
Careful  discrimination  must  be  made  between  the  mythical  or 
legendary  and  the  historical.  Allowance  must  be  made  also 
for  the  possible  presence  of  parabolic  or  allegorical  matter 
under  the  guise  of  historical  narrative.  The  failure  to 
recognize  this  has  played  havoc  with  the  interpretation  of 
such  literature  as  the  Book  of  Jonah.  Again,  are  the  visions 
in  Ezekiel,  Daniel,  Isaiah,  Zechariah  the  records  of  veritable 
prophetic  experiences,  or  are  they  but  a  literary  or  homiletic 
dress  chosen  for  the  more  effective  presentation  of  the  pro- 
phetic thought  ?  The  search  for  answers  to  these  and  other 
such  questions  yields  a  knowledge  of  the  literary  methods 
and  characteristics  of  the  Hebrews  which  is  of  the  greatest 
value  to  the  interpreter. 


no        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 
COMPOSITE   AUTHORSHIP 

Another  matter  for  investigation  by  the  hterary  student 
is  the  problem  whether  or  not  the  writing  before  him  is  a 
unit.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  most  of  the  Old  Testament  books 
are  today  regarded  as  of  composite  origin.  The  analysis  of  the 
Hexateuch  into  several  documents  and  the  partition  of  the 
Book  of  Isaiah  among  several  writers  are  but  illustrations  of 
the  situation  as  a  whole.  The  tests  of  the  unity  of  a  biblical 
book  are  in  general  precisely  the  same  as  those  appHed  to  any 
other  book.  Are  the  language  and  style  throughout  the 
work  one  and  the  same,  or  are  there  marked  variations  ? 
Judgments  regarding  style  will  always  differ  somewhat. 
De  gustihus  nil  disputandum.  But  certain  objective,  out- 
standing differences  can  be  recognized  by  all.  Browning  and 
Longfellow,  for- instance,  could  hardly  be  confused.  Styhstic 
differences  of  pronounced  character  are  thus  generally  recog- 
nizable, and  they,  at  least,  reinforce  other  considerations 
indicating  diversity  of  authorship.  Similarly,  the  language 
of  Chaucer  and  that  of  Tennyson  could  not  possibly  be 
regarded  as  belonging  to  the  same  man  or  the  same  age.  In 
the  same  way  the  language  of  the  Old  Testament  represents 
approximately  the  history  of  a  thousand  years.  Unfor- 
tunately the  history  of  the  Hebrew  language  is  not  as  well 
known  as  the  history  of  English.  Furthermore,  the  language 
of  the  Old  Testament  has  undergone  considerable  revision 
from  time  to  time,  being  kept  up  to  date  by  reason  of  the 
fact  that  the  books  were  so  widely  read  and  in  such  steady 
demand.  Yet  there  are  certain  clearly  marked  differences 
between  early  and  late  Hebrew,  and  the  presence  of  both  in 
one  book  gives  rise  to  legitimate  suspicion  regarding  its  unity. 

Another  criterion  of  unity  is  harmony  throughout  the 
writing.  Are  the  statements  it  makes  and  the  presuppositions 
it  reflects  mutually  compatible  ?  Are  the  likes  and  dislikes  in 
general  the  same  throughout?    Are  the  interests  and  ideals 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       iii 

sufficiently  alike  to  belong  to  one  mind,  or  do  they  presuppose 
more  than  one  ?  Is  the  theological  standpoint  the  same  from 
beginning  to  end  ?  Or  are  there  differences  of  religious  and 
theological  character  too  great  to  be  reconciled  on  the 
hypothesis  of  unity?  For  example,  could  David  have  held 
the  two  conceptions  of  God  reflected  in  I  Sam.  26: 17-20  and 
Ps.  139:7-12?  The  same  inspection  must  be  made  of  the 
historical  background.  Is  it  the  same  throughout?  The 
historical  situation  is  revealed  sometimes  indirectly  and  inci- 
dentally even  when  we  are  not  directly  informed  as  to  the 
period  to  which  a  writing  belongs.  If  a  discussion  of  some 
religious  doctrine  were,  for  example,  to  use  an  illustration 
based  upon  wireless  telegraphy,  later  ages  would  be  enabled 
to  determine  the  terminus  a  quo,  at  least,  of  the  writing  by 
that  incidental  allusion,  even  if  no  other  information  were 
available. 

THE   AUTHOR 

The  next  question  asked  of  a  book  by  the  interpreter  is, 
Who  wrote  it  or  its  several  constituent  elements?  The 
mere  possession  of  an  author's  name  is  of  little  value  in  itself. 
We  seek  rather  to  know  the  man  as  he  was.  To  what  stratum 
of  the  social  whole  did  he  belong  ?  It  is  of  great  help,  for 
example,  in  the  understanding  and  appreciation  of  the 
sympathy  felt  by  Amos  and  Micah  for  the  poor  and  the 
oppressed  to  know  that  they  both  came  from  the  peasant 
class  and  knew  whereof  they  spoke  by  personal  experience. 
What  was  the  inheritance  of  the  author  in  the  way  of  family 
traditions  and  prejudices  ?  What  kind  of  training  or  educa- 
tion had  been  his?  What  were  his  personal  history  and 
experience  ?  We  come  to  the  prophecy  of  Hosea,  for  example, 
with  somewhat  different  attitudes,  according  as  we  regard 
him  as  a  young  man  who  had  bestowed  all  the  wealth  of  his 
love  upon  a  maiden  who,  after  she  had  become  his  wife,  devel- 
oped lustful  proclivities  and  finally  deserted  him,  or  as  a 


112         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

man  who  believed  himself  called  of  God  to  marry  an  out-and- 
out  harlot  that  he  might  thereby  furnish  a  striking  object- 
lesson  to  Israel.  The  fuller  and  the  more  exact  our  knowledge" 
of  the  author,  his  antecedents,  and  his  temperament  the 
better  qualified  are  we  to  appreciate  his  point  of  view  and 
his  utterance. 

THE    DATE 

It  is  of  primary  importance  to  fix  the  date  of  a  writing  as 
nearly  as  possible.  The  value  of  this  information  lies  in  the 
fact  that  it  enables  us  to  know  the  historical  situation  out  of 
which  the  writing  came  and  to  which  it  was  addressed. 
This  knowledge  is  necessary  to  a  full  understanding  of  any 
writing.  To  know,  in  the  fullest  measure  possible,  the 
environment  of  the  writer  and  the  situation  of  those  to  whom 
he  wrote  throws  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  meaning  and  sig- 
nificance of  his  words.  Words  uttered  in  the  ninth  century 
would  not  convey  the  same  significance  as  the  same  words 
coming  from  the  third  century  B.C.  Prophecies  from  the 
days  of  Jeroboam  II  cannot  be  understood  aright  if  read  with 
the  supposition  that  they  come  from  the  Exile.  The  cir- 
cumstances of  the  age  are  woven  into  the  very  texture  of  the 
thought,  and  they  must  be  known  if  that  thought  is  to  be 
made  wholly  intelligible. 

The  date  of  a  piece  of  literature  is  determined  in  various 
ways.  The  superscription  attached  to  it  not  infrequently 
states  a  date.  But  the  superscriptions  were  evidently  added 
by  later  editors,  in  many  cases  at  least,  for  they  frequently 
do  not  accord  with  the  contents  of  the  document  to  which 
they  are  prefixed.  Hence,  in  every  case,  whether  there  is 
superscription  or  not,  the  final  test  of  the  date  of  a  document 
is  the  document  itself.  If  it  alludes  to  known  historical 
events  and  circumstances,  these,  of  course,  fix  the  date  at 
least  within  limits.  For  example,  since  the  137th  Psalm 
opens  with— 

By  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  there  we  sat  down, 
Yea,  we  wept,  when  we  remembered  Zion, 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       113 

it  is  perfectly  clear  that  the  period  of  the  Exile  lay  behind  the 
writer.  The  last  verses  of  the  same  psalm,  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple, show  that  the  city  of  Babylon  had  not  yet,  when  the  poet 
wrote,  been  punished  as  he  thought  it  deserved,  viz.,  totally 
destroyed.  When  Isa.  44:26-28  and  45:  iff.  speak  of  the 
wasted  state  of  Jerusalem  and  of  the  triumphs  of  Cyrus,  it  is 
clear  that  the  writer  of  these  chapters  lived  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  Exile,  after  Cyrus  had  begun  his  glorious  career 
and  before  Babylon  had  fallen  or  a  return  from  exile  had  taken 
place. 

Specific  historical  allusions  are  not  always,  however,  avail- 
able. Then  recourse  must  be  had  to  other  kinds  of  testimony. 
The  vocabulary  and  syntax  of  the  language  give  some  aid 
in  the  determination  of  date.  The  appearance  of  certain 
words  and  of  certain  idioms  can  be  dated  with  approximate 
definiteness.  Their  presence  or  absence  from  a  document  is 
therefore  a  slight  indication  of  the  time  when  it  originated. 
Persian  or  Greek  words,  for  example,  at  once  betray  the  age 
to  which  a  writing  belongs.  But,  on  the  whole,  less  aid  is 
derived  from  the  linguistic  argument  than  from  any  other 
(cf.  p.  no). 

Much  help  in  dating  a  book  or  document  is  often  derived 
from  a  study  of  the  social,  political,  and  ecclesiastical  insti- 
tutions, customs,  and  ideas  it  reflects.  If  the  writer  refers  to 
the  monarchy,  for  example,  as  an  existing  institution,  he 
reveals  the  general  period  to  which  he  belongs.  In  like 
manner,  if  he  laments  the  lack  of  temple  services,  we  at 
once  place  him  in  the  Exile.  If  the  whole  background  of 
his  thought  is  commercial  or  urban,  rather  than  rural  and 
agricultural,  we  put  him  in  the  later  sections  of  the  history. 
This  kind  of  testimony  is  furnished  particularly  by  the 
religious  and  theological  thought  of  the  writer.  'For  instance, 
when  II   Sam.    24:1    tells  us   that  Yahweh'  moved   David 

■  This  is  apparently  the  way  in  which  the  Hebrews  pronounced  the  name 
of  their  God.  The  pronunciation  "Jehovah"  is  a  mongrel  form  arising  some- 
where in  the  fourteenth  century  after  Christ.     It  is  due  to  a  mixture  of  the 


114        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

against  Israel,  saying,  "Go  number  Israel  and  Judah,"  and 
I  Chron.  21:1,  in  describing  the  same  situation,  informs  us 
that  ''Satan  stood  up  against  Israel,  and  moved  David  to 
number  Israel,"  we  know  that  a  long  history  of  religious  and 
theological  development  lies  between  the  two  interpretations. 
The  difference  in  standpoint  illustrated  by  these  two  judg- 
ments runs  through  the  entire  thought  of  the  two  stages  of 
religion  represented  by  these  two  passages.  Writings  whose 
theological  and  religious  standpoint  approximate  that  of  the 
passage  in  I  Samuel  belong  near  the  beginning  of  the  process 
of  growth,  those  that  approximate  the  standpoint  of  the 
Chronicler  belong  near  the  end  of  the  Hebrew  period.  And 
the  steps  along  the  way  from  the  first  to  the  second  are  fairly 
well  recognizable,  so  that  the  religion  and  theology  of  a 
writer  do  much  to  place  him  chronologically  for  us. 

THE   author's   purpose 

Another  contribution  to  the  understanding  of  a  document 
is  made  when  we  discover  its  author's  purpose  in  writing  it. 
If  we  read  the  Books  of  Chronicles,  for  example,  as  a  sober 
record  of  history,  made  by  one  whose  chief  aim  was  to  find 
out  what  the  facts  were  and  what  the  causes  were  that  con- 
trolled the  course  of  events,  we  are  confronted  by  vexatious 
questions.  How  can  we  account  for  the  many  discrepancies 
between  Chronicles  and  Kings  (cf.,  e.g.,  II  Chron.  14:5; 
17:6;  and  I  Kings  15:14;  22:43),  the  latter  being  much  the 
older    record?     Why    does    the    Chronicler,    if    a    historian 

vowels  of  the  Hebrew  word  for  "Lord"  with  the  consonants  of  the  name 
"Yahweh."  The  later  Hebrews  regarded  the  latter  as  too  sacred  to  be  pro- 
nounced, and  therefore  substituted  the  word  "Lord"  whenever  "Yahweh" 
occurred.  In  their  manuscripts  they  wrote  the  consonants  of  the  word  Yahweh , 
leaving  out  the  vowels  and  putting  in  their  place  the  vowels  of  the  Hebrew  word 
for  "Lord,"  thus'reminding  themselves  not  to  pronounce  "Yahweh,"  but  the 
word  for  "Lord."  Christian  interpreters,  in  the  14th  or  15th  century,  not 
knowing  the  significance  of  this  method  of  spelling,  misunderstood  it  and  pro- 
nounced the  combination  as  "Jehovah" — an  error  that  has  persisted  until  the 
present. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       115 

primarily,  pass  over  so  many  facts  without  mention  of  them 
(e.g.,  the  story  of  Bathsheba,  the  discords  in  David's  family, 
and  the  Elijah  and  Elisha  stories)  ?  How  does  it  happen  that 
the  David  of  the  Chronicler  is  a  saint,  chiefly  interested  in 
preparations  for  the  proposed  temple  and  its  ritual,  while  the 
David  of  Samuel  and  Kings  is  a  man  of  flesh  and  blood, 
busied  in  war  and  intrigue  and  the  practical  affairs  of  a 
monarch's  daily  life  ?  When  we  discover  that  the  Chronicler 
was  not  at  all  concerned  with  history  as  such,  but  was  solicitous 
to  vindicate  the  legitimacy  and  glory  of  God,  the  temple, 
the  priesthood,  and  the  ritual  as  he  knew  them  and  loved 
them,  many  of  these  questions  are  at  once  answered.  He 
was  interested  in  the  facts  of  history  only  to  the  extent  to 
which  he  could  make  them  subserve  his  purpose.  He  there- 
fore selected  such  materials  as  he  could  use  to  teach  the  lessons 
he  desired  to  inculcate  and  passed  by  the  rest.  He  also  inter- 
preted past  history  from  the  standpoint  of  his  own  time  and 
from  the  viewpoint  of  his  great  purpose,  and  thus  presented 
conclusions  widely  at  variance  with  those  of  an  earlier  inter- 
preter writing  from  a  different  standpoint  and  with  a  differ- 
ent purpose.  If  we  take  prophetic  literature,  the  importance 
of  knowing  the  prophetic  purpose  is  equally  great.  If  we 
decide  that  the  prophets  were  merely  human  automatons 
who  spoke  and  moved  as  the  Spirit  of  God  directed  them,  there 
will  be  practically  no  limits,  except  such  as  inhere  in  our  con- 
ception of  God,  to  our  conceptions  of  what  they  might  do  and 
say.  If,  however,  we  regard  the  prophets  as  men  who  were 
profoundly  moved  by  the  events  and  conditions  of  their  times 
and  sought  to  bring  to  bear  upon  their  contemporaries  such 
considerations  as  would  turn  them  from  sin  unto  righteousness, 
our  whole  interpretation  of  the  prophetic  activity  will  be  con- 
trolled by  our  conception  of  the  prophets'  purpose.  For 
example,  if  we  think  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  as  seeking  to  stimu- 
late Israel's  faith  in  God  at  the  time  of  the  Syro-Ephraimite 
invasion  of  Judah,  we  shall  seek  to  show  how  the  Immanuel 


ii6        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

prophecy  (Isa.,  chap.  7)  contributed  to  the  achievement  of 
his  purpose,  and  we  shall  have  great  difficulty  in  understanding 
how  it  could  do  so,  if  it  was  primarily  a  prediction  of  the 
coming  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  older  interpreters  used  to  say. 
Again,  if  we  regard  the  writer  of  Isa.,  chaps.  40-55,  as  engaged 
in  the  great  purpose  of  inspiring  and  strengthening  discour- 
aged Israel  in  captivity  that  it  might  be  ready  to  seize  the 
opportunity  for  return  when  it  should  present  itself,  we  shall 
read  those  chapters  with  a  new  appreciation.  We  shall  at 
once  understand  why  he  enlarges  upon  the  power  and  the  love 
of  Yahweh  and  the  futility  and  absurdity  of  idolatry.  We 
shall  also  see  why  so  much  attention  is  given  by  him  to  the 
problem  of  suffering;  he  must  explain  satisfactorily  the 
misfortunes  of  the  past  if  he  would  inspire  confidence  in 
Yahweh  for  the  future. 

COMPARATIVE   STUDY   OF   LITERATURE 

The  necessity  of  still  another  way  of  approach  to  the 
Hebrew  literature  is  now  beginning  to  be  recognized.  It 
was  long  thought  that  the  Old  Testament  literature  was 
absolutely  unique,  that  it  was  quite  without  parallel  in  any 
way.  But  within  recent  years  certain  facts  have  come  to 
light  which  challenge  that  point  of  view.  The  Babylonians 
had  a  creation  story  and  a  deluge  story  which  present  such 
striking  points  of  similarity  to  the  biblical  stories  that  we 
are  forced  to  raise  the  question  of  the  use  of  the  Babylonian 
stories  by  the  biblical  writers.  The  Code  of  Hammurabi, 
king  of  Babylon,  antedated  the  Mosaic  legislation  by  hundreds 
of  years.  Some  of  the  Mosaic  laws  are  much  like  those  of 
Hammurabi.  Was  Hebrew  law,  therefore,  dependent  to  some 
extent  upon  older  Babylonian  law?  The  Egyptian  tale  of 
two  brothers  offers  elements  that  vividly  recall  the  story 
of  Joseph  and  Potiphar's  wife.  Prophetic  and  messianic 
literature  has  been  found  in  Egypt  at  dates  far  preceding 
the  earhest  appearance  of  prophecy  or  messianism  in  Israel. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       117 

Was  this  old  Egyptian  prophetic  material  familiar  to  the 
Hebrew  prophets,  and  did  it  furnish  models  for  the  expression 
of  Hebrew  prophetic  thought?  In  the  recently  discovered 
Aramaic  papyri  from  Elephantine  there  was  found  an  Aramaic 
version  of  the  story  of  Ahikar.  This  Aramaic  version  arose 
about  500  B.C.  It  is  a  legend  of  a  wise  man  who  served  as 
chief  adviser  of  Sennacherib,  king  of  Assyria.  In  its  Aramaic 
form  it  spread  throughout  the  hither  Orient,  and  was  finally 
translated  into  Syriac,  Ethiopic,  Arabic,  Armenian,  Greek, 
and  Slavonic.  It  is  indisputable  evidence  of  the  freedom 
with  which  literary  influences  passed  from  one  part  of  the 
oriental  world  to  another,  and  it  lends  new  impetus  to  the 
study  of  oriental  literature  as  a  whole  from  the  comparative 
point  of  view.  To  what  extent,  we  are  compelled  to  ask,  were 
the  Hebrews  dependent  upon  the  literary  life  of  the  Orient  as 
a  whole  for  the  form  and  content  of  their  own  literature  ? 
The  Ahikar  story  contains  a  large  amount  of  proverbial 
material  which  is  no  whit  inferior  in  either  form  or  content 
to  much  that  is  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs.  We  can  no  longer, 
therefore,  view  the  Old  Testament  entirely  as  a  thing  apart. 
We  must  reckon  with  the  probability  of  interrelations  between 
it  and  surrounding  literatures  and  be  prepared  for  the  possi- 
bility of  surprising  discoveries  in  this  field. 

THE   ART   OF    INTERPRETATION 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  everything  which  has  preceded 
is  preparation  for  the  work  of  interpretation,  it  will  be  recog- 
nized at  once  that  the  ofhce  of  interpreter  is  no  sine- 
cure. His  work  calls  for  the  most  careful  preparation  and 
the  most  complete  self-surrender.  We  must  divest  ourselves 
of  every  preconceived  opinion  or  prejudice  that  may  stand  as 
an  obstruction  between  us  and  our  author.  We  cannot  dic- 
tate to  him  what  he  shall  say,  but  must  be  ready  to  receive 
what  he  has  said.  We  try  to  put  ourselves  in  his  place,  in 
the  ways  pointed  out  in  the  foregoing  pages,  to  look  through 


Ii8         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

his  eyes,  to  hear  with  his  ears,  and  to  feel  as  he  felt.  We 
may  add  nothing  to  his  message,  nor  may  we  subtract  any- 
thing from  it.  Our  obligation  as  interpreters  is  to  be  abso- 
lutely loyal  to  our  sources  and  transparently  honest  in  our 
endeavor  to  understand  their  full  significance.  As  inter- 
preters we  have  no  concern  with  the  truth  or  the  error  of  the 
views  presented  by  our  sources.  We  may  agree  or  disagree 
with  the  doctrines  of  our  author,  but  it  is  our  first  and  only 
duty,  in  our  capacity  as  interpreters,  to  understand  his  views 
completely  and  to  report  them  accurately. 

When  the  student  of  the  Old  Testament  has  finally 
equipped  himself  thoroughly  for  the  work  of  interpretation,  so 
that  he  is  able  to  read  the  mind  of  his  author  clearly,  he  is 
still  confronted  by  the  problem  of  method  in  his  presentation 
of  his  results  to  the  public  in  general.  He  cannot  expect  the 
average  person  to  go  through  the  long  and  painful  process  by 
which  he  himself  has  arrived  at  his  understanding  of  the  Old 
Testament.  He  must  devise  some  easier  way  for  the  great 
majority  of  men.  They  may,  perhaps,  reasonably  be  expected 
to  read  their  Old  Testament  in  more  than  one  English  trans- 
lation, a  procedure  which  will  be  found  helpful  in  so  far  as 
it  presents  familiar  ideas  in  a  new  dress  and  so  arouses  new 
thoughts  about  them.  In  so  far  as  the  translations  read 
differ  from  one  another,  they  will  contribute  also  to  bring 
about  freedom  from  bondage  to  any  one  translation  and  a 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  no  translation  can  quite  take  the 
place  of  the  original  language.  Further,  the  main  features  of 
the  historical  and  social  situation  can  be  set  before  the  popular 
mind  briefly  and  vividly  and  the  right  background  thus 
suggested  for  the  understanding  of  the  Old  Testament  book  or 
document.  But,  in  addition  to  this,  it  is  of  great  value  to  be 
able  to  translate  the  ancient  situations,  institutions,  and  ideas 
into  terms  of  modern  life  and  thought.  Being  unable  to 
carry  our  public  back  to  the  days  of  the  Hebrew  people,  we 
must  at  least,  so  far  as  possible,  bring  the  ancient  life  down 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL        119 

to  our  modern  days  and  interpret  it  in  terms  of  our  own 
age.  One  of  the  best  examples  of  this  method  of  exposition 
is  furnished  us  in  George  Adam  Smith's  commentaries  on 
Isaiah  and  the  minor  prophets. 

Literature  on  criticism  and  interpretation. — Some  of  the  more  impor- 
tant works  treating  of  matters  of  literary  criticism  and  interpretation  as 
they  concern  the  Old  Testament  are  here  given:  S.  R.  Driver,  An  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Literature  of  the  Old  Testament,  revised  ed.  (New  York:  Scrib- 
ner,  1914);  C.  H.  Cornill,  Lntroduction  to  the  Canonical  Books  of  the  Old 
Testament  (New  York:  Putnam,  1907);  H.  T.  Fowler,  A  History  of  the 
Literature  of  Ancient  Israel  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1912);  G.  B.  Gray, 
A  Critical  Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament  (New  York:  Scribner,  1913) ; 
C.  A.  Briggs,  General  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Holy  Scripture  (New 
York:  Scribner,  1899);  W.  Robertson  Smith,  The  Old  Testament  in  the 
Jewish  Church,  2d  ed.  (London:  A.  &  C.  Black,  1892);  K.  Budde,  Ge- 
schichte  der  alt-hehrdischen  Litter atur;  mil  Apokryphen  und  Pseudepi- 
graphen  von  A.  Bertholet  (Leipzig:  Amelang,  1906);  B.  Duhm,  Die 
Entstehungdes  Alien  Testaments,  2d.  ed.  (Leipzig:  Mohr,  1909);  E.  Sellin, 
Einleitung  in  das  Alte  Testament  (Leipzig:  Quelle  und  Meyer,  191  o); 
C.  Steuernagel,  Lehrbuch  der  Einleitung  in  das  Alte  Testament  (Tiibin- 
gen:  Mohr,  191 2);  L.  Gautier,  Introduction  a  VAncien  Testament, 
2  vols.,  2d  ed.  (Lausanne:  Bridel  &  Cie.,  1914);  Hermann  Gunkel, 
"Die  israelitische  Literatur,"  in  Paul  Hinneberg,  Die  Kultur  der  Gegen- 
wart,  Teil  I,  Abt.  VII,  pp.  51-102  (Berlin:  Teubner,  1906).  The  Ency- 
clopaedia Biblica,  edited  by  T.  K.  Cheyne  and  J.  S.  Black  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1899-1903),  and  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible  (New 
York:  Scribner,  1899-1904)  contain  articles  of  introduction  to  each  of 
the  Old  Testament  books;  in  addition,  the  general  articles  in  the 
former  on  "Historical  Literature"  (G.  F.  Moore),  "Law  Literature" 
(G.  B.  Gray),  "Poetical  Literature"  (B.  Duhm),  and  "Wisdom 
Literature"  (C.  H.  Toy)  are  excellent  presentations  of  the  main  facts 
in  each  case.  Similar  articles  in  the  nth  edition  of  the  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica  are  well  worth  study. 

IV.    THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  HEBREWS 

Important  and  valuable  as  the  v^ork  of  interpretation  is,  it 
is  only  as  its  results  are  gathered  up  and  given  larger  sig- 
nificance by  the  historian   that  it   comes  to   full   fruition. 


I20        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Interpretation  of  documents  is  fundamental  in  the  recon- 
struction of  history,  while  history  is  the  crown  and  glory  of 
interpretation. 

Scope  of  history. — The  historian  seeks  to  cover  the  record 
of  the  whole  life  of  a  given  people.  There  is  no  phase  of  its 
thought  or  activity  that  is  not  of  interest  to  him.  A  full 
understanding  of  the  development  of  any  people  requires  a 
full  knowledge  of  the  various  influences  that  have  co-operated 
in  the  production  of  the  result.  The  pohtical  history  of  a 
people  cannot  be  understood  as  a  thing  apart  from  its  intel- 
lectual, social,  economic,  ethical,  and  religious  life.  Nat'onal 
life  is  a  unitary  thing;  all  its  parts  are  bound  together  in  one 
structure  and  exercise  mutual  and  reciprocal  influence  one 
upon  another.  Every  fragment  of  information,  of  what- 
soever kind,  is  therefore  of  significance  to  the  historian.  He 
seeks  for  facts  wheresoever  they  may  be  found,  and,  given 
equal  powers  of  interpretation  and  exposition  for  all,  the 
truest  reconstruction  of  a  people's  history  will  be  presented  by 
that  historian  who  is  in  possession  of  the  widest  and  most 
accurate  knowledge  of  facts. 

Dating  of  sources. — Naturally,  the  most  valuable  source  of 
information  for  Hebrew  history  is  the  Old  Testament.  The 
first  step  in  the  use  of  this  source  for  historical  purposes  is  to 
accept  the  results  of  literary  criticism  regarding  the  time  of 
origin  for  each  of  the  literary  units  composing  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. Its  thirty-nine  books  must  be  arranged  in  chrono- 
logical order,  that  each  one  may  make  its  contribution  at 
the  proper  point  in  the  course  of  the  history.  Having  gone 
thus  far,  we  must  go  farther  and  discriminate  among  the 
various  literary  strata  of  which  the  Old  Testament  books  are 
composed.  The  Hexateuch,  for  example,  as  a  complete  work 
belongs  to  the  fourth  century  B.C.;  but  it  contains  within 
itself  elements  of  much  greater  age,  some  of  which  go  back 
even  as  literary  documents  to  the  eighth  or  ninth  century 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       1 21 

B.C.,  and  perhaps  farther.'  Before  the  Hexateuch  can  be 
properly  used  as  a  historical  source  it  must  be  analyzed  into 
its  primitive  constituent  elements,  and  these  must  in  turn 
be  arranged  in  chronological  order.  In  like  manner  the 
Books  of  Judges,  Samuel,  Kings,  Chronicles,  Ezra,  and 
Nehemiah  have  been  found  to  be  composite  and  must  submit 
to  an  analysis  and  a  chronological  assignment  of  the  com- 
ponent parts.  Similar  processes  are  applied  to  the  writings  of 
the  prophets  and  the  poets. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  a  large  measure  of  uncertainty  must 
attach  to  any  effort  toward  a  reconstruction  of  Hebrew  history. 
The  dating  of  many  of  the  literary  strata  within  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  of  necessity  a  somewhat  subjective  piece  of  work. 
Few  tangible  and  definite  chronological  indices  are  at  hand, 
and  in  their  absence  more  reliance  than  is  desirable  has  to  be 
placed  upon  considerations  of  taste  and  judgment.  The 
farther  the  historian  moves  from  firmly  fixed  objective  facts 
into  the  regions  of  thought  and  feeling  the  more  speculative 
are  his  results.  But  no  truly  historical  mind  can  rest  content 
with  a  bare  list  of  chronologically  attested  facts.  Chronology 
is  not  history,  but  merely  its  framework.  The  historian  must 
fill  in  the  picture  as  best  he  can,  seeking  for  the  full  historical 
setting,  of  which  the  definitely  known  and  placed  facts  form 
but  a  small  part.  It  is  inevitable,  therefore,  that  there  will 
always  be  many  variant  representations  of  the  progress  of 
Hebrew  history;  for  conjecture  and  imagination,  even  when 
controlled  by  sound  historical  principles  and  methods,  afford 
wide  scope  for  variations  in  judgment. 

Facts  versus  interpretation  of  facts. — When  a  literary 
source  has  finally  been  definitely  placed  in  time,  a  new  prob- 
lem presents  itself  to  the  historian.  He  is  seeking  for  facts; 
his   literary   record   offers   him   an   interpretation   of   facts. 

'  See  my  article,  "Some  Problems  in  the  Early  History  of  Hebrew  Religion," 
American  Journal  of  Semitic  Languages  and  Litcralures,  XXXII  (1916),  81-97. 


122        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  record  is  the  product  of  some  person's  observation  of  an 
event,  or  study  of  a  tradition,  or  thought  upon  an  experience. 
Consequently  it  partakes  of  the  limitations  and  reflects  the 
characteristics  of  the  writer.  A  single  individual,  with  the 
best  will  in  the  world,  will  almost  inevitably  give  a  partial  or 
incomplete  interpretation,  or  one  in  which  certain  aspects  of 
the  fact  or  truth  are  given  undue  prominence.  The  historian, 
therefore,  must  discriminate  between  a  fact  and  its  inter- 
pretation. Is  the  interpretation  historically  valid  ?  Does 
it  do  full  justice  to  the  facts,  or  is  it  but  a  partial  or  prejudiced 
view  ?  Was  the  writer  in  possession  of  all  the  facts  or  of  a 
sufficiently  large  proportion  of  them  to  make  it  possible  for 
him  to  arrive  at  a  just  estimate  of  the  situation?  Was  his 
ability  as  an  interpreter  vitiated  by  the  purpose  for  which  he 
was  writing?  Did  he  desire  primarily  to  find  out  exactly 
what  the  facts  were  and  to  make  them  known,  or  were  facts 
only  secondary  or  incidental  matters  with  him,  his  mind  being 
set  upon  some  great  political,  social,  or  religious  end  ? 

A  literary  document  that  purports  to  narrate  some  past 
event  is  not  infrequently  a  source  of  information  regarding  at ' 
least  two  periods,  viz.,  the  age  in  which  the  event  occurred 
and  the  age  in  which  the  narrator  lived.  To  the  extent  to 
which  a  faithful  record  is  given  of  the  situation  or  circumstance 
described  the  docuriient  is  of  value  as  a  witness  to  the  actual 
facts;  but  even  when,  for  various  reasons,  a  document  is  any- 
thing but  a  faithful  record  of  actual  facts,  it  may  be  of 
exceedingly  great  value  for  the  age  from  which  it  itself 
originates.  That  is  to  say,  a  writer  always  reveals  some- 
thing of  the  milieu  out  of  which  he  writes.  Whatever  he 
may  or  may  not  tell  us  directly  of  the  more  or  less  remote 
period  whose  history  he  is  recording,  he  will  certainly  tell 
us,  more  or  less  indirectly,  much  regarding  the  times  in 
which  he  himself  lives.  He  will  write  in  the  language  of  his 
own  day;  he  will  drop  occasional  allusions  to  recent  or  con- 
temporary occurrences  and  personalities;    he  will  reflect  the 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL        123 

opinions — political,  social,  ethical,  or  religious — of  his  genera- 
tion, and  he  will  employ  the  literary  and  historical  methods  and 
point  of  view  of  the  world  in  which  he  is  living.  No  twentieth- 
century  document  could  ever  be  mistaken  for  a  sixteenth- 
century  document,  even  if  it  were  a  history  of  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth. 

It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  that  the  historian  of  the 
Hebrew  people  should  make  this  differentiation  between 
fact  and  interpretation  of  fact.  The  Old  Testament  records, 
even  those  that  profess  to  be  written  as  histories,  were  all 
written  by  men  who  knew  nothing  of  the  modern  scientific 
historiographical  spirit  and  method.  They  were  wholly 
lacking  in  all  that  goes  to  make  up  critical  scholarship  in  the 
field  of  history.  They  accepted  as  true  practically  all  that 
tradition  had  to  offer  them.  They  never  dreamed  of  sub- 
mitting traditions  to  cold-blooded,  scientific  investigation. 
They  wrote,  not  for  the  purpose  of  recording  facts  for  fact's 
sake,  but  for  the  edification  and  inspiration  of  their  people. 
They  selected  their  materials  and  modified  them  as  seemed 
necessary  from  this  point  of  view.  The  result  is,  not  in- 
frequently, a  disproportionate  emphasis  upon  some  phase  of 
the  national  life  and  a  complete  ignoring  of  others  equally 
important.  JFurthermore,  Hebrew  writers,  like  all  other 
ancient  historians,  were  almost  totally  lacking  in  the  sense 
of  perspective.  They  were  unable  to  make  the  necessary 
allowance  for  the  lapse  of  time.  They  looked  at  events  and 
situations  from  the  standpoint  of  their  own  age.  They  did 
not  think  of  the  necessity  of  divesting  themselves  of  all  that 
the  progress  of  time  had  brought  to  them  and  of  putting 
themselves  in  the  place  of  those  whose  sayings  and  doings 
they  were  recording.  They  judged  everything  and  every- 
body by  their  own  standards  and  conceived  of  people  of 
former  generations  as  actuated  by  the  same  ideals  and  pur- 
poses as  they  themselves  were.  They  read  back  into  ancient 
times  the  ideas  and  institutions  of  their  own  times  without 


124        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

a  thought  of  the  incongruity  that  must  often  result  from  such 
a  procedure. 

The  interpretative  bias  illustrated  by  the  Books  of  Chron- 
icles.— Plentiful  illustration  of  the  characteristics  here  enumer- 
ated is  furnished  by  the  Books  of  Chronicles.  In  them  the 
spirit  and  method  of  much  of  the  Hebrew  writing  is  most 
clearly  seen.  A  comparison  of  these  books  with  the  corre- 
sponding portions  of  the  Books  of  Samuel  and  Kings  is  most 
instructive  and  illuminating.  These  two  sections  of  the  Old 
Testament  cover  largely  the  same  ground.  But  the  interests, 
point  of  view,  and  aims  of  the  writers  are  widely  different. 
These  differences  control  their  selection  and  use  of  materials 
and  result  in  interpretations  which  vary  radically.  The 
Chronicler,  living  after  the  fall  of  the  Northern  Kingdom  and 
regarding  that  kingdom  as  having  been  contrary  to  the  will  of 
Yahweh  throughout  its  history,  almost  wholly  ignores  it  in  his 
narrative,  giving  it  mention  only  where  the  history  of  Judah 
was  so  inextricably  interwoven  with  that  of  Israel  as  to  compel 
recognition  of  the  latter  by  the  recorder.  The  Chronicler, 
being  concerned  chiefly  in  an  effort  to  validate  the  temple 
at  Jerusalem  and  its  ritual  as  he  knew  them,  traces  the 
institutions  of  his  own  day  back  to  the  days  of  David,  to 
whom  he  assigns  the  whole  organization  of  the  temple  cultus. 
The  Chronicler's  David  is  an  ecclesiastic  first  of  all;  out  of 
the  nineteen  chapters  devoted  to  David's  life  and  work  in 
Chronicles  eleven  are  devoted  to  accounts  of  his  activities 
in  connection  with  temple,  ritual,  and  the  like.  The  same 
desire  to  represent  the  great  King  David  as  fulfilhng  the 
Chronicler's  ideal  of  a  king  leads  him  to  omit  almost  all 
reference  to  the  sins  of  David,  which  bulk  so  large  in  the 
Samuel  record.  The  only  sin  noticed  by  him  is  that  of  taking 
the  census;  and  a  striking  difference  appears  in  his  narrative 
regarding  it.  In  II  Sam.  24:1  we  are  told  that  Yahweh 
moved  David  to  number  Israel  and  Judah  and  then  punished 
him  and  his  people  for  so  doing.     This  was  not  ethically 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL        125 

justifiable  in  the  Chronicler's  eyes;  hence  in  I  Chron.  21:1 
we  read:  "Satan  stood  up  against  Israel,  and  moved  David 
to  number  Israel."  Similar  liberty  in  modifying  and  even 
contradicting  the  earlier  record  is  often  taken  by  the  Chronicler 
when  the  purpose  he  has  in  mind  seems  to  him  to  require  it; 
cf.,  for  example,  II  Chron.  14:5  and  17:6  with  I  Kings  15: 14 
and  22:43;  II  Chron.  24:26  and  II  Kings  12:21  (where  the 
Chronicler's  attitude  toward  mixed  marriages  leads  him 
to  attach  the  terms  "Ammonitess"  and  "Moabitess");  II 
Chron.  24:4-14  with  II  Kings  12:5-17;  II  Chron.  36:9 
with  II  Kings  24:8. 

We  have  the  advantage  of  being  able  to  check  the  Chron- 
icler's accounts  by  the  earlier  records  of  Samuel  and  Kings; 
they  reveal  to  us  the  great  freedom  with  which  the  Chronicler 
has  handled  his  sources  and  his  facts.  More  or  less  of  the 
same  attitude  is  discoverable  in  other  Old  Testament  writings, 
and  the  historical  student  must  therefore  always  be  on  the 
lookout  and  ready  to  make  allowance  for  the  bias  of  his 
sources  of  information.  The  historian  must  endeavor  to 
find  out  how  things  actually  happened;  he  cannot  rest  content 
with  the  opinions  and  interpretations  of  uncritical  writers,  even 
if  they  were  eyewitnesses  of  that  which  they  record.  He  must 
compare  testimony  with  testimony,  witness  with  witness,  and 
seek  to  get  behind  all  records  to  the  facts  themselves. 

Geography  as  a  historical  source. — A  second  source  of 
information  that  must  be  utilized  to  the  full  by  the  historian 
is  the  geography  of  Palestine  and  the  neighboring  lands. 
The  land  of  Palestine,  in  relation  to  its  illumination  of  the 
life-story  of  Jesus,  has  been  weU  named  "the  Fifth  Gospel." 
The  same  kind  of  value  is  to  be  obtained  from  it  for  the 
understanding  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  geographical 
data  contained  in  the  Old  Testament  are  abundant;  scarcely 
a  page  but  makes  one  or  more  topographical,  climatic,  geo- 
logical, political,  or  ethnological  reference,  for  the  under- 
standing of  which  a  knowledge  of  the  geography  of  Palestine 


126        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

and  the  neighboring  lands  is  almost  indispensable.  Travel 
and  residence  in  Palestine  and  the  study  of  good  maps  and 
handbooks  have  made  the  general  topography  of  Palestine 
familiar  to  most  students.  The  lay  of  the  land,  the  lakes  and 
rivers,  the  hills  and  greater  valleys,  and  many  of  the  more 
important  towns  are  well  known.  On  the  other  hand,  many 
places  still  await  exact  localization  and  sure  identification, 
e.g.,  Gibeah  of  Saul,  Lo-debar,  Beth-rehob,  Salem,  Topheth, 
Gath,  Bethcar,  and  Aphek. 

The  political  significance  of  the  geographical  location  of 
Palestine. — Geography  has  much  to  do  with  the  making 
of  history.  Location  largely  determines  vocation;  climate 
and  soil  vitally  affect  character  and  function.  The  situation 
of  Palestine  was  strategic.  It  was,  as  a  glance  at  any  map  of 
Western  Asia  and  Egypt  will  show,  the  only  path  of  com- 
munication between  Asia  and  Africa.  It  lay  between  the 
great  powers  of  these  two  regions  as  a  connecting  link.  All 
the  commerce  and  culture  of  the  ancient  oriental  world 
must,  perforce,  pass  through  Syria  and  Palestine.  Palestine 
received  the  impress  of  the  civilizations  of  Crete  and  the 
Aegean,  of  Egypt,  of  the  Hittites,  of  Assyrian,  Babylonian, 
Persian,  Greek,  and  Roman,  each  in  turn.  It  was  the 
battlefield  of  contending  tribes  and  the  prize  of  the  great 
world-powers.  The  control  of  this  bridge  was  indispensable 
to  the  aspirant  for  world-dominion.  Its  inhabitants  could 
not  live  the  life  of  seclusion;  they  were  inevitably  involved 
in  all  the  great  military  and  political  movements  of  each 
age.  Their  statesmen  were  continually  confronted  by  great 
problems  in  the  field  of  foreign  affairs.  The  policy  to  be 
adopted  in  any  great  crisis  became  a  subject  of  tremendous 
import  and  called  forth  opinion  and  discussion  throughout 
the  land.  These  people  were  continually  in  the  forefront 
of  the  world's  history  and  could  not  escape  the  effect  of  con- 
tinual concern  with  great  issues  in  the  realms  of  politics  and 
morality. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       127 

The  economic  resources  of  Palestine. — The  surface  of 
Palestine  is  very  broken.  Hills  of  varying  elevation  are 
intersected  by  valleys  of  greater  or  less  extent  penetrating  into 
the  hills  and  ascending  to  various  degrees  of  elevation.  The 
Jordan  Valley  and  the  Dead  Sea  run  like  a  deep  gash  through 
the  land  from  north  to  south.  With  such  great  variety  of 
elevation  and  of  exposure  there  goes  a  corresponding  variety 
of  products;  consequently  the  land  is  to  an  unusual  degree 
self-sustaining,  providing  for  practically  all  the  needs  of  its 
inhabitants.  In  contrast  with  the  sandy  deserts  to  the  east 
and  south  it  is  a  garden  of  fertility.  This  has  always  made  it 
the  envy  and  the  prey  of  marauding  bands  of  Bedouins  and 
attracted  to  it  the  hungry  hordes  of  the  desert.  The  Hebrews 
themselves  approached  it  thus  and  looked  longingly  toward 
the  "land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey."  But  large  areas  of 
its  surface  are  limestone  rock,  coated  with  an  inch  or  two  of 
soil,  which  raises  nothing  but  a  little  grass  for  a  few  weeks  in 
the  springtime.  Consequently,  famines  were  no  uncommon 
occurrence,  the  area  of  productive  land  being  so  small,  and  a 
full  allotment  of  rain  being  necessary  to  a  full  yield.  A  study 
of  the  records  of  Judges  and  Joshua  shows  that  the  conquering 
Hebrews  were  for  long  confined  almost  wholly  to  the  hillsides, 
and  that  the  fertile  plains  were  held  firmly  by  the  Canaanites, 
Economic  motives  played  no  small  part  in  the  relations 
between  the  incomers  and  the  older  inhabitants.  In  like 
manner,  reference  to  a  raised  map  of  Palestine  and  Syria  will 
show  that  Damascus  was  cut  ofi  from  Phoenicia  and  the 
coast  by  the  Lebanon  ranges.  Her  only  way  out  was  across 
the  northern  end  of  Palestine.  The  need  for  an  outlet  for 
her  commerce  may  have  had  much  to  do  with  the  long  wars  , 
between  Damascus  and  Israel.  The  economic  resources  of 
Palestine  were  so  slight,  in  comparison  with  those  of  the  fertile 
valleys  of  the  Nile  and  the  Euphrates,  as  to  constitute  a 
heavy  and  hopeless  handicap  to  the  Hebrews  in  any  endeavor 
to   rival   the  political  and  economic  power  of   Egypt  and 


128         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Babylonia- Assyria.  The  Hebrews  were  never  far  removed 
from  starvation.  It  may  well  be  that  this  lack  of  things 
material  contributed  much  toward  the  development  of  spir- 
itual riches. 

In  these  and  other  ways  the  influence  of  geography  upon 
Hebrew  history  is  easily  discernible,  and  it  well  deserves  the 
careful  consideration  of  students. 

Literature  upon  the  geography  of  Palestine. — The  following  books  are 
of  value  on.  this  subject :  George  Adam  Smith,  The  Historical  Geography 
of  the  Holy  Land  (New  York:  Armstrong,  1894),  and  Jerusalem:  The 
Topography,  Economics,  and  History  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  70  A.D., 
2  vols.  (New  York:  Armstrong,  1905);  Selah  Merrill,  Ancient  Jerusalem 
(with  illustrations,  charts,  and  plans;  Chicago:  Revell,  1908);  L.  B. 
Paton,  Jerusalem  in  Bible  Times  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago 
Press,  1908);  E.  Huntington,  Palestine  and  Its  Transformation  (Boston: 
Houghton  Miflflin  Co.,  191 1);  R.  L.  Stewart,  The  Land  of  Israel:  A 
Textbook  on  the  Physical  and  Historical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land 
(Chicago:  Revell,  1899);  A.  Socin  and  I.  Benzinger,  Palestine  and 
Syria  (Baedeker's  Guide-Book  Series),  4th  ed.  (New  York:  Scribner, 
1906);  F.  Buhl,  Geographie  des  alien  Paldstina  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1896); 
H.  Guthe,  Paldstina  (Land  und  Leute:  Monographien  zur  Erdkunde; 
mit  142  Abbildungen  nach  photograph.  Aufnahme  und  einer  farbigen 
Karte;   Bielefeld:   Velhagen  u.  Klasing,  1908). 

Maps. — George  Adam  Smith  and  J.  G.  Bartholomew,  Atlas  of  the 
Historical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land  (London:  Hodder  &  Stoughton, 
191 5);  Topographical  and  Physical  Map  of  Palestine,  compiled  by  J.  G. 
Bartholomew  and  edited  by  G.  Adam  Smith  (scale,  4  miles  to  the  inch; 
New  York:  Armstrong,  1904);  H.  Guthe,  Bibel-Atlas  (in  20  Haupt- 
und  28  Nebenkarten.  Mit  einem  Verzeichnis  der  alten  und  neuen 
Ortsnamen;  Leipzig:  Wagner  und  Debes,  191 1);  H.  Kiepert,  Wand- 
karte  zur  Erlduterung  der  biblischen  Erdkunde  Alten  und  Neuen  Testaments 
(Berlin:  Reimer). 

The  most  exhaustive  maps  of  Palestine  are  those  compiled  under 
the  direction  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  from  whose  agents  they 
may  be  obtained.  Special  attention  may  be  called  to  the  value  of  their 
relief  maps. 

Archaeology  and  history. — A  third  source  of  information 
regarding  Hebrew  history  is  at  hand  in  Hebrew  archaeology. 
This  science  concerns  itself  with  the  material  remains  of 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL        129 

Hebrew  civilization.  These  are  fragments  of  ancient  build- 
ings, city  walls,  and  fortifications;  wells,  cisterns,  tombs, 
and  graves;  altars,  shrines,  and  sacred  pillars;  various  prod- 
ucts of  artistic  skill,  e.g.,  idols,  figurines,  coins,  statues;  tools 
of  various  kinds  and  weapons;  utensils  for  household  use, 
such  as  jars,  bowls,  and  lamps.  In  short,  any  product  of 
human  labor  and  skill  is  serviceable  to  the  archaeologist. 
Through  such  things  he  may  trace  a  people's  progress  in  the 
arts  and  sciences  and  be  enabled  to  give  them  their  right 
place  in  the  scale  of  culture.  Of  especial  interest,  however, 
are  the  few  inscriptions  that  have  been  recovered  thus  far  from 
the  soil  of  Palestine. 

Whence  have  materials  of  this  sort  been  obtained?  In 
part  from  the  representations,  in  inscriptions  and  reliefs,  of 
the  spoil  carried  away  from  Israel  by  invaders,  like  the  Assyr- 
ians and  Babylonians;  in  part  also  from  the  surface  of  the  soil, 
where  may  still  be  found  such  things  as  ancient  high  places, 
wells,  walls,  and  building  materials  from  ancient  structures 
which  had  been  torn  down  and  utilized  by  the  natives  in  the 
erection  of  modern  houses,  etc.  But  the  most  fertile  source 
of  such  materials  has  been  and  will  continue  to  be  the  work  of 
the  excavator.  Thus  far  excavations  of  any  extent  have  been 
conducted  only  at  Jerusalem,  Jericho,  Gezer,  Samaria, 
Beth-shemesh,  Taanach,  Megiddo,  Lachish,  Tell-es-Safi 
(Gath[?]),  Tell-Zakariya  (Azekah[?]),  Tell-ej-judeideh,  and 
Mareshah.  The  work  of  excavation  in  Palestine  has  little 
more  than  begun.  There  is  yet  much  soil  to  be  overturned. 
In  the  words  of  Dr.  F.  J.  Bliss,  himself  a  competent  and  suc- 
cessful excavator: 

Excavation  has  all  the  possibilities  of  an  infant  art.  The  debris  of 
ages  has  only  just  begun  to  reveal  its  treasures.  Scattered  under  the 
soil  are  countless  "documents" — documents  in  stone,  in  metal,  in 
earthenware — documents  inscribed  and  uninscribed,  but  each  waiting 
to  tell  its  tale  of  the  past.  Of  the  hundreds  of  buried  sites  in  Syria  arid 
Palestine,  those  in  which  excavation  has  been  attempted  on  any  large 
scale  do  not  reach  the  number  of  twenty. 


I30        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Relatively  few  inscriptions  have  as  yet  been  recovered 
from  the  soil  of  Palestine.  This  is  in  part  due  to  the  many 
political  and  military  vicissitudes  of  the  land,  and  in  part  to  the 
destructive  effects  of  climate  and  soil.  The  more  important 
written  documents  found  are  the  Moabite  stone,  the  Siloam 
inscription,  the  Gezer  calendar,  the  Lachish  tablet,  the 
ostraca  from  Samaria,  the  Assyrian  tablets  from  Gezer  and 
from  Taanach,  the  lion  seal  from  Megiddo,  and  the  stamped 
jar-handles  from  Tell-es-Safi.  and  neighboring  sites. 

The  finds  of  the  excavators  have  thrown  much  light  on 
certain  phases  or  sections  of  Hebrew  history.  For  example, 
it  is  pretty  generally  conceded  now  that  the  Palestine  excava- 
tions support  the  contention  that  there  was  no  sudden  in- 
cursion into  Palestine  of  an  overwhelming  horde  of  Hebrews 
sweeping  everything  before  them,  but  that  the  process  of 
Hebraizing  Canaan  was  a  slow  and  gradual  one.  Again,  the 
excavations  show  that  the  civilization  of  Palestine,  into  which 
the  Hebrews  came  and  with  which  they  identified  themselves, 
was  not  a  pure,  unmixed  product,  but  rather  a  complex  and 
composite  culture  into  which  had  entered  most  varying  ele- 
ments from  widely  separated  homes.  It  was  a  cosmopolitan 
life  in  large  measure.  Many  more  interesting  revelations 
doubtless  await  the  spade  of  the  excavator. 

Literature  on  Hebrew  archaeology. — The  following  are  of  value: 
George  A.  Barton,  Archaeology  and  the  Bible  (Philadelphia:  American 
Sunday  School  Union,  1916);  P.  S.  P.  Handcock,  The  Latest  Light  on 
Bible  Lands  (London:  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge, 
1913);  and  The  Archaeology  of  the  Holy  Land  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
1916;  F.  J.  Bliss,  The  Development  of  Palestine  Exploration  (New  York: 
Scribner,  1906);  H.  Vincent,  Canaan  d'apres  Vexploration  recente  (Paris: 
Gabalda,  1907);  S.  R.  Driver,  Modern  Research  as  Illustrating  the 
Bible  (London:  Henry  Frowde,  1909);  W.  M.  Thomson,  The  Land 
and  the  Book  (New  York:  Harper,  1882);  F.  J.  Bliss,  A  Mound  of 
Many  Cities,  or  Tell-el-Hesy  Excavated  (London:  Palestine  Exploration 
Fund,  1894);  F.  J.  Bliss,  Excavations  at  Jerusalem,  i8g4-i8g7  (London: 
Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  1898);  F.  J.  Bliss  and  R.  A.  S.  Macalis- 
ter,  Excavations  in  Palestine,  i8g8-igoo  (London:   Palestine  Explora- 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL        131 

tion  Fund,  1902);  E.  Sellin,  Tell-Ta'^anek  (Vienna:  Holder,  1904); 
G.  Schumacher,  Tell-el-Mutesellim  (Leipzig:  Haupt,  1908);  R.  A.  S. 
Macalister,  The  Excavation  of  Gezer  (London:  Palestine  Exploration 
Fund,  1912);  Sellin  und  Watzinger,  Jericho  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1913); 
W.  Nowack,  Lehrhuch  der  hebraischen  Archdologie  (Leipzig:  Mohr, 
1894);  I.  Benzinger,  Hebrdische  Archdologie,  2d  ed.  (Leipzig:  Mohr, 
1907);  R.  Kittel,  Studien  zur  hebrdischen  Archdologie  und  Religions- 
geschichte  (Leipzig:    Hinrichs,  1908). 

History  of  the  Semitic  world. — A  very  important  contribu- 
tion to  the  understanding  of  Hebrew  history  is  obtained 
through  the  study  of  the  history  of  the  neighboring  nations. 
First  of  all,  the  inscriptions  of  Egypt,  Babylonia,  Assyria, 
Persia,  Moab,  and  Syria  contain  many  references  to  Israel 
and  Judah  which  substantiate,  modify,  correct,  or  help  in  the 
interpretation  of  the  statements  of  the  Old  Testament  itself. 

Literature. — The  more  important  of  these  inscriptions  will  be  found 
translated  or  interpreted  in  their  bearing  upon  the  Old  Testament  in 
the  following  books:  George  A.  Barton,  op.  oil.,  pp.  235-443;  R.  W. 
Rogers,  Cuneiform  Parallels  to  the  Old  Testament  (New  York:  Eaton 
&  Mains,  191 2) ;  S.  A.  B.  Mercer,  Extra-Biblical  Sources  for  Hebrew  and 
Jewish  History  (New  York:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1913);  H. 
Gressmann,  Altorientalische  Texte  und  Bilder  zum  Alien  Testamente 
(Tiibingen:  Mohr,  1909);  J.  H.  Breasted,  Ancient  Records  of  Egypt 
(Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1906);  C.  H.  W.  Johns, 
The  Oldest  Code  of  Laws  in  the  World  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1903), 
and  The  Relations  between  the  Laws  of  Babylonia  and  the  Laws  of 
the  Hebrew  Peoples  (London:  Oxford  University  Press,  1914);  S.  A. 
Cook,  The  Laws  of  Moses  and  the  Code  of  Hammurabi  (London:  Black, 
1903),  R.  F.  Harper,  The  Code  of  Hammurabi  (Chicago:  The  University 
of  Chicago  Press,  1904);  H.  V.  Hilprecht,  Explorations  in  Bible  Lands 
during  the  Nineteenth  Century  (Philadelphia:  Holman,  1903);  E. 
Schrader,  Die  Keilinschriften  und  das  Alte  Testament,  3d  ed.,  by  H. 
Zimmern  und  H.  Winckler  (Berlin:  Reuther  und  Reichard,  1902); 
L.  W.  King  and  H.  R.  Hall,  Egypt  and  Western  Asia  in  the  Light  of 
Recent  Discoveries  (London:  Society  for  Promotion  of  Christian  Knowl- 
edge, 1907);  A.  Jeremias,  The  Old  Testament  in  the  Light  of  the  Ancient 
East  (New  York:  Putnam,  1911);  W.  H.  Bennett,  The  Moabite  Stone 
(Edinburgh:  Clark,  191 1);  A.  H.  Sayce,  Aramaic  Papyri  Discovered  at 
Assuan  (London:   A.  Noring,  1908);   E.  Sachau,  Aramdische  Papyrus 


132        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

und  Ostraka  aus  einer  jildischen  Militdrkolonie  zu  Elephantine  (Leipzig: 
Hinrichs,  191 1);  A.  Ungnad,  Aramdische  Papyrus  aus  Elephantine 
(Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  191 1);  I!.d.  Meyer,  Der  Papyrusf und  von  Elephantine 
(Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  191 2). 

In  addition  to  the  concrete  statements  regarding  Israel 
and  Judah  to  be  obtained  from  the  inscriptions  of  neighboring 
peoples,  the  entire  progress  of  their  history  must  be  con- 
sidered in  its  bearing  upon  Hebrew  history.  By  geographical 
location  the  inhabitants  of  Palestine  were  the  connecting 
link  between  the  two  great  centers  of  civilization  in  the 
oriental  world,  viz.,  the  valley  of  the  Nile  and  that  of  the 
Euphrates.  It  was  impossible  for  them  to  live  an  isolated  life. 
They  were  of  necessity  involved  in  all  the  movements  of  the 
life  of  the  Orient.  Across  their  border  marched  and  counter- 
marched the  armies  of  the  East,  and  their  own  fate  lay  in  the 
hands  of  the  great  contenders  for  world-supremacy.  The 
foreign  policies  of  Egypt,  of  Syria,  of  Urartu,  of  Babylonia,  of 
Assyria,  and  of  Persia  each  in  turn  affected  more  or  less  pro- 
foundly the  course  of  Hebrew  history.  We  cannot  under- 
stand the  reign  of  King  Hezekiah,  for  example,  apart  from  an 
insight  into  the  larger  political  field  of  Egypt  and  Western 
Asia.  We  get  valuable  light  upon  the  series  of  events  cul- 
minating in  the  Maccabean  revolt  and  the  full  significance 
of  that  struggle  as  we  view  it  in  relation  to  the  tangled  politics 
of  Egypt,  of  Syria,  and  of  Rome.  No  important  political 
or  economic  movement  anywhere  in  the  world  of  Egypt  and 
Western  Asia  was  without  great  significance  for  the  Hebrew 
kingdoms. 

Not  only  in  such  external  ways  was  Israel  affected  by  the 
world  about  her.  She  was  herself  part  and  parcel  of  that 
world.  The  historian  must  fully  recognize  and  give  due 
weight  to  this  fact.  The  Hebrews  were  Semites  living  among 
Semites.  There  is  thus  a  very  real  sense  in  which  the  life  of 
the  entire  Semitic  world  was  one  life.  Its  underlying  currents, 
its  dominating  motives,  its  psychological  reactions  to  the 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL        133 

phenomena  of  experience  were  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  that  world  fundamentally  the  same.  To  write 
the  history  of  any  one  part  of  the  Semitic  world  without  con- 
stant reference  to  the  life  of  the  other  parts  would  be  as 
radically  wrong  as  to  attempt  to  obtain  an  intelligent  under- 
standing of  the  history  of  the  state  of  Massachusetts  apart 
from  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  United  States 
and  of  England.  Yet  the  importance  of  this  method  of  ap- 
proach to  Hebrew  history  and  its  full  significance  are  only  just 
beginning  to  dawn  upon  Old  Testament  scholars. 

Literature  on  the  history  of  the  related  peoples. — ^J.  H.  Breasted,  A 
History  of  Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Persian  Conquest,  2d.  ed. 
(New  York :  Scribner,  1909) ,  and  A  History  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians  (New 
York:  Scribner,  1908) ;  G.  S.  Goodspeed,  A  History  of  the  Babylonians  and 
Assyrians  (New  York:  Scribner,  1902);  R.  W.  Rogers,  A  History  of 
Babylonia  and  Assyria,  6th  ed.  (New  York:  Abingdon  Press,  191 5); 
J.  Garstang,  The  Land  of  the  Hittites  (New  York:  Dutton  &  Co.,  1910); 
P.  S.  P.  Handcock,  Mesopotamian  Archaeology  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
1912);  L.  W.  King,  A  History  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  2  vols,  so  far 
issued  (New  York:  Stokes  &  Co.,  191 5) ;  Morris  Jastrow,  Jr.,  The  Civili- 
zation of  Babylonia  and  Assyria  (Philadelphia:  Lippincott,  1915);  Ed. 
Meyer,  Geschichte  des  Alter tums,  2d  ed.  (Stuttgart :  Cotta,  1909  ff.) ;  H.  R. 
Hall,  The  Ancient  History  of  the  Near  East  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the 
Battle  of  Salami s  (London:  Methuen,  1913);  C.  F.  Lehmann-Haupt, 
Israel.  Seine  Entwicklung  ini  Rahmen  der  Weltgeschichte  (Tubingen: 
Mohr,  1911). 

Problems  in  Hebrew  history. — The  kind  of  problems  that 
interest  historians  of  the  Hebrews  at  the  present  time  may  be 
indicated  by  a  few  examples.  The  Hebrew  settlement  in 
Canaan  invites  investigation.  Conflicting  views  in  the  Old 
Testament  raise  questions  regarding  the  manner  and  duration 
of  the  Hebrew  entry.  The  likelihood  of  the  JJabiri  of  the 
Tell-el-Amarna  letters  having  been  Hebrews,  in  a  wider 
application  of  the  name,  involves  the  probability  of  their 
having  been  marauders  in  or  invaders  of  Canaan  in  the  fif- 
teenth century  B.C.     The  stele  of  Merneptah  places  "Israel" 


134        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

in  Palestine  about  1200  B.C.  What  relation  did  the  Habiri 
and  "Israel"  of  Palestine  bear  to  the  Jacob  tribes  in  Egypt? 
Were  they  the  same  people  or  different  branches  of  one  and 
the  same  people?  When  did  they  first  enter  Canaan — at 
the  time  of  the  Hyksos  invasion,  or  in  the  Amarna  period,  or 
at  some  other  time?  The  results  of  excavation  show  no 
break  in  the  culture  of  Canaan  at  any  point  in  the  early  days. 
Was  Israel's  settlement  there  a  peaceful  one,  not  disturbing 
existing  conditions  ?  Did  the  Israelites  bring  with  them  a 
culture  so  akin  to  that  of  Canaan  as  to  make  amalgamation 
easy  and  natural?  Or  did  they  come  with  everything  to 
learn  from  the  Canaanites,  but  in  such  relatively  slight 
numbers  and  so  gradually  as  to  produce  no  appreciable  effect 
upon  the  life  of  the  times  ? 

Another  group  of  problems  besets  the  return  of  Judah 
from  exile  in  Babylon  and  the  restoration  of  the  Jewish 
community.  Is  the  Chronicler's  account  in  Ezra  and  Nehe- 
miah  a  wholly  trustworthy  one  ?  Was  there  the  return  of  a 
large  body  of  exiles  about  536  B.C.  ?  To  what  extent  did 
the  Chronicler  use  '^ sources"  in  his  record  of  these  events,  and 
to  what  extent  did  he  write  in  independence  of  ''sources"? 
Which  was  the  pioneer  in  the  work  of  restoration,  Ezra  or 
Nehemiah  ?  Was  the  hostility  of  the  Samaritans  toward  the 
Jews  fundamentally  on  account  of  religious  or  political  con- 
siderations ?  Did  the  old  breach  between  the  North  and 
South  reassert  itself  here  ? 

To  what  degree  is  the  chronology  of  the  Old  Testament 
trustworthy?  Checking  it  up  where  we  have  the  data  for 
testing  it  we  seem  forced  to  doubt  its  validity  at  many 
points.  For  example,  the  period  from  the  Exodus  to  the 
laying  of  the  foundation  stone  of  Solomon's  temple  was, 
according  to  I  Kings  6:1,  480  years.  But  the  sum  of  the 
figures  given  in  the  Hexateuch,  Judges,  Samuel,  and  Kings 
for  the  same  period  is  550  years;  and  these  figures  do  not 
include  the  days  of  Joshua,  the  elders  who  outlived  Joshua, 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       135 

Samuel,  and  Saul,  which,  if  added,  would  bring  the  total  up 
toward  650  years.  The  total  of  the  reigns  of  the  kings  of 
Judah,  from  Athaliah  to  the  sixth  year  of  Hezekiah  as  given  in 
Kings,  is  165  years;  the  figures  for  the  corresponding  period  in 
Israel  are  144  years.  The  chronology  of  Hezekiah  is  in  great 
confusion;  according  to  II  Kings  18:2,  compared  with  16:2, 
Ahaz  was  about  nine  years  old  when  his  son  Hezekiah  was 
born.  Samaria  fell  in  721  B.C.,  the  sixth  year  of  Hezekiah, 
according  to  II  Kings  18:9,  10,  thus  placing  Hezekiah's 
accession  in  727  or  726  B.C.  Sennacherib's  siege  of  Jerusalem 
in  701  B.C.  was  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  Hezekiah,  according 
to  II  Kings  18: 13;  this  places  his  accession  in  715  or  714  B.C. 
Such  problems  call  for  the  most  careful  and  thoroughgoing 
application  of  historical  method  to  the  reconstruction  of  the 
history  of  the  Hebrews.  Intelligence  of  a  high  order  and 
patience  unlimited  are  requisite  for  the  treatment  of  this  great 
subject.  There  is  opportunity  here  for  almost  unlimited 
work,  and  the  reward,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  genuine 
student,  will  certainly  be  commensurate  with  the  labor 
involved. 

Books  on  Hebrew  history. — ^J.  Wellhausen,  Prolegomena  zur  Geschichte 
Israels,  6th  ed.  (Berlin:  Reimer,  1905;  the  EngHsh  edition  of  this  famous 
work  is  out  of  print) ;  R.  Kittel,  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel,  2d  ed. 
(Gotha:  Perthes,  191 2;  the  EngHsh  translation  of  the  first  edition, 
History  of  the  Hebrews,  was  published  by  Williams  &  Norgate,  of  Lon- 
don, in  1895-96);  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History  (New  York: 
Scribner,  1903) ;  G.  W.  Wade,  Old  Testament  History,  2d  ed.  (New 
York:  Dutton,  1903);  C.  F.  Kent,  History  of  the  Hebrew  People  and 
History  of  the  Jewish  People  (New  York:  Scribner,  1896-99) ;  B.  Stade, 
Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel  (Berlin:  Grote,  1887);  H.GMthe,  Geschichte 
des  Volkes  Israel,  2d  ed.  (Leipzig:  Mohr,  1904);  Ed.  Meyer,  Die  Isra- 
eliten  und  ihre  N achharstdmme  (Halle:  Niemeyer,  1906) ;  W.  H.  Kosters, 
Die  W iederherstellung  Israels  in  der  persischen  Periode  (Heidelberg:  Hor- 
ning, 1895);  Ed.  Meyer,  Die  Entstehung  des  Judcnthums  (Halle: 
Niemeyer,  1896);  C.  C.  Torrey,  Ezra  Studies  (Chicago:  The  Univer- 
sity of  Chicago  Press,  1910);  C.  F.  Lehmann-Haupt,  Israel.  Seine  Ent- 
wicklung  im  Rahmen  der  W eltgeschichte  (Tubingen:   Mohr,  191 1). 


136        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

V.     THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  HEBREWS 

Religion  and  history. — The  modern  approach  to  the  study 
of  Hebrew  religion  has  shown  that  that  religion  was  just  as 
truly  a  historical  product  as  is  the  religion  of  any  other  people. 
The  history  is  one  of  growth  or  development  from  a  primitive 
type  of  thought  and  conduct  to  a  relatively  advanced  and 
lofty  type.  Progress  in  religion  went  hand  in  hand  with 
progress  in  culture.  Jephthah  in  a  primitive  age  sacrificed 
his  daughter  to  please  his  God.  A  writer  in  the  post-exilic 
age  says: 

Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  Yahweh  and  bow  myself  before  the  most 

high  God? 
Shall  I  come  before  him  with  burnt-offerings,  with  calves  a  year  old  ? 
Will  Yahweh  be  pleased  with  thousands  of  rams,  with  tens  of  thousands 

of  rivers  of  oil  ? 
Shall  I  give  my  first-born  for  my  transgression,  the  fruit  of  my  body 

for  the  sin  of  my  soul  ? 
It  has  been  told  thee,  0  man,  what  is  good. 
Yea,  what  does  Yahweh  require  of  thee, 
But  to  do  justice  and  to  love  kindness, 
And  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God?  [Mic.  6:6-8]. 

David  dreads  expulsion  from  Israel  as  involving  banishment 
from  Yahweh  (I  Sam.  26:19,  20).  A  later  ''David,"  living 
at  the  other  end  of  the  Hebrew  career,  says: 

Whither  can  I  go  from  thy  spirit  ? 

And  whither  can  I  flee  from  thy  presence  ? 

If  I  ascend  into  heaven,  thou  art  there. 

If  I  make  Sheol  my  bed,  lo — thou  art  there. 

If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning, 

And'dwell  in  the  uttermost  part  of  the  sea; 

There  also  would  thy  hand  lead  me. 

And  thy  right  hand  hold  me  [Ps.  139:7-10]. 

The  Second  Commandment  says  that  Yahweh  is  "a  jealous 
God,  visiting  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  upon 
the  third  and  the  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate"  him. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL        137 

Ezekiel  at  the  time  of  the  Exile  says,  ''The  soul  that  sinneth, 
it  shall  die:  the  son  shall  not  bear  the  guilt  of  his  father, 
neither  shall  the  father  bear  the  guilt  of  his  son;  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  righteous  shall  be  for  himself,  and  the  wickedness 
of  the  wicked  shall  be  upon  himself"  (Ezek.  18:20). 

Such  being  the  case,  the  study  of  Hebrew  religion  is  in 
reality  a  part  of  the  study  of  Hebrew  history  as  a  whole. 
It  calls  for  the  same  preliminary  processes  in  the  treatment  of 
the  sources  of  information  that  any  other  historical  investi- 
gation calls  for  (see  pp.  i2off.).  The  same  sort  of  allowance 
must  be  made  for  the  point  of  view  and  purpose  of  the  writers, 
for  their  limitations,  prejudices,  and  enthusiasms.  It  is 
also  to  be  continually  borne  in  mind  that  religion  is  one  of 
the  most  conservative  elements  in  civilization — that  it  tends 
to  conserve  and  enshrine  the  old  even  long  after  the  new  has 
taken  a  place  alongside  it.  Many  a  primitive  religious  idea 
or  institution  has  persisted  into  modern  times,  sometimes  with 
a  change  of  function  or  significance  that  keeps  it  alive  and 
effective,  sometimes  having  lost  all  significance  and  become  a 
mere  matter  of  habit,  sustained  by  the  momentum  of  its  long 
history.  This  will  explain  many  an  apparent  inconsistency  in 
the  religious  consciousness  of  later  times.  It  also  makes  it 
possible  to  recover  something  of  the  more  primitive  religious 
mind  from  the  religious  practices  of  later  generations. 

Religion  and  culture. — ^The  effect  of  the  political  and  eco- 
nomic history  upon  the  content  and  development  of  the 
religious  history  must  be  carefully  studied.  If  religion  is  one 
of  the  functions  of  culture,  it  must  be  studied  in  relation  to  all 
the  other  functions,  if  it  is  to  be  properly  appreciated.  Take 
the  effect  of  the  settlement  in  Canaan  upon  Hebrew  religion  as 
a  case  in  point.  The  God-idea  of  the  nomadic  Israelites  was 
wholly  unfitted  for  the  needs  of  a  settled  people.  The  God  of 
the  desert  had  been  thought  of  as  supplying  all  the  needs  of  his 
people  there.  But  a  new  kind  of  life  confronted  them  in 
Canaan.     Here  they  must  become  fanners  and  city-dwellers. 


138        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Whole  areas  of  new  experience  were  opened  out  before  them. 
They  must  learn  new  ways  of  living  and  they  must  learn  to  - 
associate  their  God  with  these  new  ways.  The  Canaanites 
were  farmers  and  must  be  depended  upon  to  teach  their  art 
to  Israel.  But  the  Canaanites  were  worshipers  of  the  Baalim 
and  organized  all  their  agricultural  life  in  connection  with 
Baalistic  rites.  The  Baalim  were  for  them  the  lords  of  the 
soil  and  the  givers  of  its  fruits.  Yahweh  must  displace  the 
Baalim  in  these  functions  if  he  is  to  retain  the  loyalty  of  his 
people.  He  must  become  a  farmer's  God.  This  change  of 
function  on  the  part  of  Israel  and  Yahweh  required  much 
time.  It  was  a  life-and-death  struggle  for  the  religion  of 
Israel,  which  ended  in  complete  victory  over  the  Baalim 
only  after  centuries  of  conflict;  cf.  Hos.  2 : 2-13. 

Another  illustration  of  the  dependence  of  religion  upon 
history  is  at  hand  in  the  Hebrew  teaching  regarding  the  per- 
sonal responsibility  of  the  individual  to  God  for  his  own  deeds. 
This  teaching  never  received  full  recognition  and  distinct 
emphasis  till  the  days  of  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel.  Prior  to 
that  period  the  whole  thought  of  the  teachers  of  religion 
had  concerned  itself  with  the  problems  and  duties  of  the 
nation  as  such.  The  future  of  the  Kingdom  of  Yahweh 
was  indissolubly  bound  up  with  the  future  of  Israel.  But  at 
last  it  became  clear  to  the  religious  guides  of  Israel  that  the 
nation  as  such  was  doomed.  Was  Yahweh  therefore  to  be 
eliminated  from  history  ?  This  led  to  a  transfer  of  attention 
from  the  nation  to  the  individuals  of  which  it  was  composed, 
and  to  a  recognition  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  must  be  set 
up  in  the  hearts  of  the  pious.  Hence,  Ezekiel  takes  upon 
himself  the  "cure  of  souls  "  and  wrestles  with  the  problems  and 
doubts  that  disturb  the  faith  of  the  men  of  his  day.  Through 
the  experiences  of  those  trying  times  he  is  brought  to  see 
that  no  man  is  condemned  by  Yahweh  for  sins  committed  by 
other  men,  and  that  no  man's  righteousness  can  be  counted 
to  the  credit  of  another  than  himself. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL        139 

Isaiah  and  Micah  interpret  the  invasion  of  Sennacherib  as 
chastisement  from  Yahweh  for  Judah's  sin  and  lack  of  faith. 
A  later  "Isaiah"  kindles  faith  in  the  hearts  of  his  despairing 
people  by  exalting  Yahweh  in  his  omnipotence  and  sole  god- 
head, when  his  people  are  buried  in  exile,  apparently  having 
"no  God,  and  without  hope  in  the  world."  Habakkuk 
preaches  the  necessity  of  faith  in  God  when  all  men's  hearts 
are  failing  them  for  fear.  The  prophets  as  a  whole  make 
Yahweh  the  God  of  the  world  just  when  it  seems  inevitable 
that  his  own  land  will  be  overrun  by  the  heathen.  The  rela- 
tion between  religion  and  the  larger  life  of  the  day  was  vital 
and  must  always  be  taken  into  account. 

Hebrew  religion  and  Semitic  religion. — Another  aspect  of 
the  study  of  Hebrew  religion  is  the  relationship  of  the  Hebrew 
to  the  oriental  religions  in  general.  We  can  no  longer  think 
of  the  religion  of  Israel  as  existing  in  a  vacuum.  The  civili- 
zation of  the  Hebrews  owed  much  to  the  Semitic  world  in 
which  it  was  developed;  we  can  safely  say  that  there  was  little 
that  was  distinctively  Hebraic  in  it.  It  was  largely  composed 
of  the  Semitic  and  non-Semitic  cultures  that  surrounded  Israel 
and  were  rooted  in  the  very  soil  upon  which  she  lived.  If  this 
be  true,  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  the  religion  of  Israel  could 
have  escaped  some  influence  from  the  religions  that  were  vital 
elements  in  these  neighboring  civilizations.  The  possibility 
becomes  even  more  vague  when  we  consider  that  not  a  single 
one  of  the  great  fundamental  institutions  of  the  Hebrew 
religion  was  exclusively  Hebraic.  Sacrifice,  prayer,  Sabbath, 
circumcision,  clean  and  unclean,  prophet,  priest,  temple, 
feasts,  fasts — all  these  institutions  were  existent  among 
other  Semitic  peoples  and  that,  too,  long  before  the  Hebrew 
nation  and  people  came  into  being.  The  latter  did  not  create 
their  religious  institutions;  they  inherited  them.  This  inher- 
itance carried  with  it  a  tremendous  body  of  Semitic  religion 
which  became  the  substratum  of  Hebrew  religion.  In  order 
to   get   a  right  historical   view   of  the  religion  of  the  Old 


I40        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Testament,  it  is.  incumbent  upon  the  student  to  obtain  some 
idea  of  the  elements  in  it  that  were  held  in  common  with 
their  Semitic  ancestors  and  brethren,  to  trace  their  resem- 
blances, and  to  note  their  differences. 

When  we  discover,  e.g.,  that  in  many  cases  precisely 
that  which  was  "unclean"  for  the  Hebrew  was  "taboo"  for 
other  peoples,  we  are  on  the  way  to  a  new  understanding  of 
"clean  and  unclean."  When  we  note  that  circumcision  was 
not  an  exclusively  Hebraic  rite,  nor  even  confined  to  the 
Semites,  but  a  practice  in  vogue  among  the  most  widely 
scattered  peoples,  from  the  North  American  Indian  to  the 
aborigines  of  Australasia,  we  approach  the  study  of  it  in 
Israel  with  a  wholly  different  mental  attitude.  When  we 
learn  that  the  root- word  for  "holy"  is  the  same  throughout 
the  Semitic  group  of  languages,  and  that  in  Assyrian,  for 
example,  it  is  used  in  one  form  to  designate  a  "prostitute" 
or  "harlot,"'  we  get  a  new  point  of  view  for  the  interpretation 
of  the  Hebrew  word.  Even  prophecy,  the  crown  and  glory 
of  Hebrew  religion,  was  at  home  also  in  Syria,  Assyria,  and 
Egypt.  It  is  gradually  appearing  that  messianic  prophecy 
had  very  close  parallels  in  Assyria  and  Egypt,  and  it  is  by  no 
means  unlikely  that  the  messianism  of  Israel  received  some 
of  its  coloring  and  content  from  one  or  the  other  of  these 
sources. 

Facts  like  these  force  upon  the  student  the  obligation  to 
study  the  religion  of  the  Old  Testament  from  the  comparative 
standpoint.  It  was  not  a  thing  apart;  it  was  a  religion 
among  religions;  it  was  one  of  a  great  family  of  religions. 
It  exhibits  strong  family  resemblances;  but  it  also  is  marked 
by  distinctly  individual   characteristics.     Both   alike  must 

'  This  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  religion  of  Assyria  found  place 
for  the  practice  of  prostitution  as  a  sacrificial  honor  to  the  gods,  the  givers  of 
life.  Being  thus  incorporated  in  the  worship  and  attached  to  the  shrines,  the 
harlot  was  a  "holy"  person.  There  was  evidently  no  thought  of  moral  purity 
in  the  word  at  this  stage. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       141 

be  investigated.  The  differences  will  appear  all  the  more 
wonderful  when  they  are  seen  against  the  background  of  so 
many  and  such  great  resemblances. 

Problems  in  the  study  of  Hebrew  religion. — The  modern 
student  finds  the  study  of  the  religion  of  the  Hebrews  bristling 
with  problems  which  invite  attention.  For  example,  when 
did  monotheism  succeed  in  establishing  itself  firmly  in  Israel, 
and  when  was  it  first  formulated  ?  Was  it  arrived  at  through 
a  process  of  speculative  thought,  as  in  Egypt  in  the  days  of 
Amenophis  IV,  or  was  it  attained  as  the  result  of  ethical 
necessity  ?  That  is  to  say,  did  the  Hebrews  formulate  mono- 
theism in  response  to  the  demand  for  an  ethical  interpretation 
of  the  world  to  which  such  a  doctrine  seemed  indispensable  ? 
Was  any  impetus  toward  monotheism  received  from  Baby- 
lonia, Assyria,  or  Egypt,  or  was  it  a  purely  native  product  ? 
Again,  how  is  the  marvelous  ethical  superiority  of  Israel's 
religion  to  be  accounted  for?  Was  it  a  gift  from  above, 
unmediated  by  human  instrumentalities?  If  not,  what  ele- 
ments in  the  environment  and  history  of  Israel  contributed  to 
this  development?  Were  these  elements  present  or  absent 
from  the  experiences  of  the  related  peoples  ?  Are  we  content 
to  say  that  the  Hebrews  had  a  special  and  innate  affinity  for 
ethics  even  as,  according  to  some  historians,  the  Greeks  had 
for  aesthetics?  Cannot  practically  every  Hebrew  ethical 
ideal  and  precept  be  paralleled  in  the  ethical  teachings  of  the 
neighboring  peoples?  If  so,  wherein  precisely  does  the 
ethical  superiority  of  Israel  consist  ? 

Yet  again,  the  tendency  of  critical  scholarship  has  been 
to  place  practically  all  the  eschatological  writings  of  the  Old 
Testament  in  the  exilic  or  post-exilic  age.  Is  this  procedure 
valid?  Or  is  it  better,  with  some  recent  scholars,  to  make 
eschatology  antedate  the  whole  prophetic  movement  and  to 
see  in  the  prophetic  promises  and  threats  merely  an  ethicizing 
of  older  eschatological  ideas  belonging  to  a  more  or  less  general 
Semitic  world- view  ?     That  is,  did  Amos,  Hosea,  Isaiah,  and 


142         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

their  successors  simply  take  over  already  existing  non- 
ethical  conceptions  regarding  national  disaster  or  deliverance 
and  world-catastrophe  and  read  into  them  great  ethical 
lessons,  making  effective  homiletical  use  of  them  for  the 
religious  education  of  Israel? 

The  development  of  Hebrew  law  is  likewise  a  subject  that 
calls  for  fresh  examination.  The  historical  school  of  inter- 
pretation has  arranged  the  codes  in  this  order:  (i)  Covenant 
Code,  (2)  Deuteronomy,  (3)  Holiness  Code,  (4)  Priestly  Code. 
With  this  arrangement  has  gone  the  tacit  assumption  that 
the  last  two  codes  at  least  were  composed  almost  entirely  of 
new  laws,  formulated  in  the  days  of  the  Exile  and  the  following 
centuries.  But  we  are  now  asking  whether  it  is  not  more 
probable  that  very  much  of  the  content  of  these  later  codes  was 
in  existence  and  in  use  at  the  various  shrines  quite  early  in 
Hebrew  history.  Some  of  the  laws  in  these  two  codes  are 
obviously  late;  but  are  they  all  necessarily  equally  late?  Is 
it  not  probable  that  much  of  the  law  and  custom  of  Israel 
escaped  formal  literary  revision  until  a  relatively  late  period, 
when  the  aggressive  priestly  scribes  laid  hands  upon  the 
whole  religious  life  of  Israel  and  set  their  seal  indelibly 
thereon  ? 

Finally,  the  influences  and  elements  that  entered  into  the 
composition  of  Judaism  need  closer  definition.  How  much 
was  the  later  legislation  influenced  by  Babylonian  law  and 
ritual,  either  in  the  way  of  direct  imitation  and  emulation 
or  by  way  of  reaction  and  protest  ?  What  did  Persian  views 
contribute  toward  Jewish  religious  thought,  especially  in  the 
realms  of  demonology,  angelology,  and  eschatology?  Did 
Greek  philosophy  either  directly  or  indirectly,  positively 
or  negatively,  shape  the  thought  of  the  Hebrew  sages  ? 

Literature  on  Hebrew  religion. — General:  H.  Preserved  Smith,  The 
Religion  of  Israel:  An  Historical  Study  (New  York:  Scribner  19 14); 
J.  P.  Peters,  The  Religion  oj  the  Hebrews  (Boston:  Ginn  &  Co.,  1914); 
K.  Marti,  The  Religion  oj  the  Old  Testament:  Its  Place  among  the  Religions 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       143 

of  the  nearer  East  (New  York:  Putnam,  1907);  K.  Budde,  The  Religion 
oj  Israel  to  the  Exile  (New  York:  Putnam,  1899);  T.  K.  Cheyne,  Jewish 
Religious  Life  after  the  Exile  (New  York:  Putnam,  1898);  B.  Stade 
und  A.  Bertholet,  Bihlische  Theologie  des  Alien  Testaments,  2  vols. 
(Tubingen:  Mohr,  1905-11);  R.  Smend,  Lehrhuch  der  alttestamentlichen 
Religions geschichte,  2d.  ed.  (Leipzig:  Mohr,  1899);  E.  Kautzsch, 
Biblische  Theologie  des  Alien  Testaments^  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  191 1); 
B.  Baentsch,  Altorientalischer  und  israelitischer  Monotheismus  (Tubingen: 
Mohr,  1905) ;  E.  Sellin,  Die  alttestamentliche  Religion  im  Rahmen  der 
andern  altorientalischen  (Leipzig:  Deichert,  1908);  E.  Konig,  Geschichte 
der  alttestamentlichen  Religion  {Giitersloh:  Bertelsmann,  1912);  J.  Hehn, 
Biblische  und  babylonische  Gottesidee  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1913);  H.  G. 
Mitchell,  The  Ethics  of  the  Old  Testament  (Chicago :  The  University  of 
Chicago  Press,  1912);  W.  F.  Bade,  The  Old  Testament  in  the  Light  of 
To-Day  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1915);  A.  C.  Welch,  The 
Religion  of  Israel  under  the  Kingdom  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1912);  W.  H. 
Bennett,  The  Religion  of  the  Post-exilic  Prophets  (Edinburgh:  Clark, 
1907) ;  H.  Wheeler  Robinson,  The  Religious  Ideas  of  the  Old  Testament 
(New  York:  Scribner,  19 13). 

Prophetic:  C.  H.  Cornill,  The  Prophets  of  Israel  (Chicago:  Open 
Court  Pub.  Co.,  1901);  J.  M.  Powis  Smith,  The  Prophet  and  His  Prob- 
lems (New  York:  Scribner,  1914);  L.  W.  Batten,  The  Hebrew  Prophet 
(New  York:  Macmillan,  1905);  W.  R.  Smith,  The  Prophets  of  Israel, 
2d  ed.  (London:  Black,  1896);  E.  Sellin,  Der  alttestamentliche  Prophetis- 
mus  (Leipzig:  Deichert,  1912);  H.  Gressmann,  Der  Ursprung  der 
israelitisch-judischen  Eschatologie  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Rup- 
recht,  1905);  M.  Friedlander,  Griechische  Philosophie  im  Allen  Testa- 
ment (Berlin:  Reimer,  1904);  J.  Koberle,  Siinde  und  Gnade  im  religiosen 
Leben  des  Volkes  Israel  bis  auf  Christum  (Munich:  Beck,  1905);  H. 
Gressmann,  Mose  und  seine  Zeit  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht 

1913)- 

Semitic:  W.  Robertson  Smith,  The  Religion  of  the  Semites,  2d  ed. 
(London:  Black,  1894);  J.  Wellhausen,  Reste  des  arabischen  Heiden- 
thums,  2d  ed.  (Berhn:  Reimer,  1897);  J.  H.  Breasted,  The  Development 
of  Religion  and  Thought  in  Ancient  Egypt  (New  York:  Scribner,  1912); 
M.  Jastrow,  Jr.,  Die  Religion  Babyloniens  und  Assyriens  (Giessen:  Ricker, 
1905-13;  greatly  expanded  from  the  English  edition  published  by 
Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston,  1898);  R.  W.  Rogers,  The  Religion  of  Babylonia 
and  Assyria   (New  York:    Eaton  &  Mains,   1908);    M.  Jastrow,  Jr., 

'A  translation  and  revision  of  the  article  "Religion  of  Israel,"  in  Has- 
tings' Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  Vol.  V. 


144        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Aspects  of  the  Religion  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria  (New  York:  Putnam, 
191 1),  and  Hebrew  and  Babylonian  Traditions  (New  York:  Scribner, 
1914);  A.  Erman,  Handbook  of  Egyptian  Religion  (London:  Constable, 
1907). 

VI.    THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT 
THE   CANON 

The  extraordinary  value  of  the  writings  composing  the 
Old  Testament  was  very  early  recognized.  A  process  of 
official  recognition  and  standardization  of  the  literature  was 
begun  when  the  priests  in  Josiah's  day  secured  the  royal 
approval  and  public  indorsement  of  the  Deuteronomic  Code 
of  law  (II  Kings,  chaps.  22,  23).  Another  long  step  and  in 
the  same  direction  was  taken  in  the  days  of  Ezra  and  Nehe- 
miah,  when  a  new  edition  of  the  law  received  the  stamp  of 
pubHc  acceptance  (Neh.,  chap.  8).  The  end  toward  which 
it  all  aimed  was  the  erection  of  a  Canon  of  Scripture.  Canoni- 
zation itself  was  not  a  single  act  but  a  long-drawn-out  process. 
The  precise  time  of  its  beginning  has  not  been  determined; 
but  the  prologue  to  the  Wisdom  of  Jesus  ben  Sirach  (  =  Ecclesi- 
asticus)  furnishes  clear  evidence  that  the  Law  and  the  Prophets 
were  regarded  as  canonical  before  200  B.C.,  and  that  the 
formation  of  the  third  division  of  the  Canon,  viz.,  the  Writings, 
had  already  begun  at  that  time.  'Like  uncertainty  obtains 
regarding  the  date  of  the  completion  of  the  process  of  canoniza- 
tion. It  seems  safe  to  infer  from  the  existing  evidence 
that  the  entire  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament  was  completed 
before  the  Christian  era.  In  any  case,  the  question  of  the 
Canon  was  taken  up  for  discussion  and  settled  by  the  Jewish 
Synod  of  Jamnia,  which  convened  about  90  a.d.,  and  decided 
in  favor  of  the  retention  in  the  Canon  of  all  books  that  had 
thus  far  been  included. 

Problems  in  the  history  of  canonization. — Many  questions 
regarding  canonization  still  remain  unanswered.  At  what 
time  did  the  Canon  of  the  Law  close?     Just  when  did  the 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       145 

Canon  of  the  Prophets  close  ?  How  much  longer  did  the 
Canon  of  the  Writings  remain  open  ?  What  considerations  led 
to  the  inclusion  or  exclusion  of  a  book  from  the  Canon  ? 
What  did  canonization  involve?  Were  canonized  books 
immune  to  all  further  editorial  modification  ?  What  were 
the  contents  of  the  so-called  Alexandrine  Canon?  How 
did  the  theory  of  the  Hellenistic  Jews  regarding  the  Canon 
differ  from  that  of  the  Palestinian  Jews  ?  Why  does  the 
Protestant  Canon  not  include  the  apocryphal  books  recognized 
by  the  Roman  Catholic  Carton?  Must  the  decision  of 
past  generations  of  the  Christian  church  regarding  the 
relative  values  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  Apocrypha  be 
binding  upon  the  conscience  and  judgment  of  the  present 
day  ?  Does  the  canonization  of  a  writing  make  it  of  any 
more  intrinsic  value  to  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  individual 
reader  ?  Are  not  some  of  the  Apocrypha  more  conducive  to 
edification  than  some  of  the  canonical  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  ? 

Literature  on  the  Canon. — F.  Buhl,  Canon  and  Text  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1892);  W.  R.  Smith,  The  Old  Testament  in 
the  Jewish  Church,  2d  ed.  (London:  Black,  1895);  H.  E.  Ryle,  The 
Canon  of  the  Old  Testament  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1892);  K.  Budde, 
Der  Kanon  des  Alten  Testaments  (Giessen:  J.  Ricker,  1900);  G.  Wilde- 
boer,  The  Origin  of  the  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament  (London:  Luzac, 
1895) ;  W.  H.  Green,  General  Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament  Canon 
(New  York:  Scribner,  1899);  A.  F.  Kirkpatrick,  The  Divine  Library  of 
the  Old  Testament  (New  York:   Macmillan,  1891). 

HISTORY  OF  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT 

The  fact  of  canonization  carried  with  it  a  heavy  increment 
of  sanctity  and  authority  to  the  writings  thus  exalted.  These 
passed  on  to  later  generations  with  credentials  that  could 
not  be  lightly  regarded,  much  less  ignored.  Bringing  such 
weighty  indorsement,  they  had  to  be  utilized  in  the  religious 
education  of  the  church.  The  record  of  the  way  in  which 
they  were  used  by  the  successive  generations  of  believers 


146        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

is  one  full  of  interest  and  significance.  One  system  of  inter- 
pretation after  another  has  come  to  the  fore,  held  the  center 
of  the  stage  for  a  while,  and  finally  retired,  yielding  its  place 
to  its  successor.  The  New  Testament  interpretation  of  the 
Old  Testament  is  of  especial  interest,  contrasting  as  it  does 
the  rabbinical  exegesis  of  most  of  the  writers  of  the  New 
Testament  with  the  saner  and  sounder  methods  of  Jesus, 
though  the  latter,  if  his  attitude  is  correctly  represented  in  the 
gospels,  is  not  wholly  free  from  rabbinical  influence  himself. 
Among  the  more  prominent  schools  of  exegetical  method 
have  been  the  literalistic,  the  allegorical  and  spiritual,  the 
typological  and  mystical,  the  dogmatic,  and,  in  later  times 
particularly,  the  grammatical  and  historical.  The  bane  of 
practically  all  the  older  exegesis  was, that  it  read  into  the 
text  of  the  Old  Testament  the  ideas  and  ideals  of  the  inter- 
preters themselves.  Whatever  the  method  of  interpretation 
adhered  to,  the  interpreter  felt  himself  under  obligation  to 
obtain  from  the  words  of  the  Old  Testament,  of  whatever 
character  the  passage  treated  might  be,  some  message  "for 
teaching,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  right- 
eousness." He  always  took  it  for  granted  that  the  Old  Testa- 
ment was  written  throughout  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
needs  of  men  in  all  times.  Consequently  that  method  of  inter- 
pretation was  the  most  successful  which  secured  the  most 
moral  and  religious  stimulus  and  instruction  from  any  given 
passage. 

For  a  brief  sketch  of  the  history  of  interpretation,  see  G.  H.  Gilbert, 
Interpretation  of  the  Bible  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1908).  For  earlier 
points  of  view,  compare  F.  W.  Farrar,  The  History  of  Interpretation  (New 
York:  Dutton,  1886),  and  C.  A.  Briggs,  General  Introduction  to  the 
Study  of  Holy  Scripture  (New  York:   Scribner,  1899),  chap,  xviii. 

THE  VALUE  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT 

In  the  light  of  the  modern  historical  method  of  interpreta- 
tion the  question  of  the  value  of  the  Old  Testament  calls  for  a 
fresh  examination  of  the  evidence.     The  kind  of  answers 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       147 

that  satisfied  former  generations  of  Bible  students  may  not  be 
acceptable  to  modern  students.  We  approach  the  Old  Testa- 
ment with  different  presuppositions  and  with  different 
expectations;  or,  rather,  we  try  to  bring  to  its  interpretation 
no  presuppositions  nor  expectations.  We  merely  seek  to 
discover  what  the  writers  of  the  Old  Testament  had  to  say. 
Having  learned  that,  we  weigh  their  utterances  in  the  scales 
of  critical  judgment,  for  the  purpose  of  estimating  their  value. 
The  contribution  of  the  Old  Testament  to  religious  education, 
aside  from  its  value  as  a  source  of  philological,  historical, 
archaeological,  sociological,  and  ethnological  information,  is 
chiefly  in  three  directions,  viz.,  (i)  to  the  interpretation  of  the 
New  Testament,  (2)  to  the  content  and  method  of  systematic 
theology,  and  (3)  to  the  instruction  and  edification  of  the  reli- 
gious life. 

The  Old  Testament  in  relation  to  the  New. — Every 
properly  trained  student  of  the  New  Testament  at  the  present 
time  recognizes  that  the  methodology  of  study  worked  out  by 
Old  Testament  scholarship  and  the  point  of  view  there  ob- 
tained must  be  made  operative  also  in  the  New  Testament. 
For  a  certain  time  after  the  historico-critical  method  had  estab- 
lished itself  as  legitimate  and  indispensable  in  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  Old  Testament  many  scholars  failed  to  realize 
the  necessity  of  carrying  it  over  into  the  New.  The  full 
application  of  the  method  in  the  study  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment has  as  yet  been  made  by  but  few.  But  that  the  New 
Testament  may  not  exempt  itself  from  the  same  kind  of 
thoroughgoing  treatment  that  has  been  applied  to  the  Old  is 
now  generally  recognized.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the 
need  of  acquiring  a  right  standpoint  and  methodology  for 
his  New  Testament  work  a  student  makes  no  mistake  in 
securing  a  preliminary  training  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
Old  Testament. 

In  addition  to  its  value  for  training  in  method  the  study 
of  the  Old  Testament  is  an  indispensable  element  in  any 


148        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

preparation  for  the  interpretation  of  the  New,  because  of  the 
genetic  relationship  between  the  two.  The  rehgion  of  the  New 
Testament  is  but  the  finest  product  and  ultimate  realization 
of  the  ideals  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  New  cannot  be 
understood  apart  from  a  sympathetic  and  appreciative 
acquaintance  with  the  contents  and  character  of  the  Old. 
Old  Testament  phrases  and  thoughts  abound  in  its  pages. 
Such  books  as  Hebrews  and  Revelation  simply  overflow  with 
Old  Testament  terminology,  archaeology,  theology,  and  escha- 
tology.  The  Old  Testament  was  the  only  Bible  of  Jesus  and 
of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament.  Their  minds  were 
saturated  with  it  and  their  thinking  shaped  by  it.  The  New 
Testament  is  the  continuation  of  the  Old,  and  those  scholars 
who  insist  that  the  two  must  be  studied  together,  that  there 
is  no  legitimate  line  of  demarkation  between  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  the  New,  but  that  the  New  is  the  completion  of  the 
Old,  are  not  to  be  lightly  set  aside.  In  the  words  of  a  recent 
writer: 

The  Old  Testament  ....  affords  the  presuppositions  that  are 
indispensable  to  apprehend  the  character  of  Christ.  It  is  the  Old  Testa- 
ment rehgion  that  Christ  came  to  fulfil.  It  is  as  necessary  to  understand 
what  the  material  was  which  Christ  completed  as  the  method  of  his 

completion It  is  as  impossible,   therefore,   to  understand  the 

purpose  and  spirit  of  Jesus,  without  something  of  his  reverence  for  the 
Old  Testament  and  something  of  his  intimacy  with  it,  as  it  would  be  to 
understand  a  proposed  amendment  to  a  constitution  without  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  original  constitution,  or  to  comprehend  an  advanced  course 
in  physics  without  studying  the  elementary  laws  of  heat  and  light. 
The  most  fatal  misapprehensions  of  Jesus  are  those  that  fail  to  see  the 
spirit  of  the  Old  Testament  in  all  his  ideas  and  deeds. ^ 

The  Old  Testament  and  systematic  theology. — It  will 
probably  have  become  quite  evident,  to  those  who  have  read 
the  foregoing  pages,  that  we  need  not  expect  the  Old  Tes- 
tament to  furnish  the  systematic  theologian  ready-made 
doctrines  with  which  he  may  build  up  his  system.     We  have 

'  A.  W.  Vernon,  Religious  Value  of  the  Old  Testament,  pp.  66  f . 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       149 

outgrown  the  period  when  the  content  of  systematic  theology 
was  supposed  to  be  furnished  by  bibHcal  theology.  The  fact 
is  that  the  historical  study  of  the  Old  Testament  does  not 
deliver  to  us  any  product  which  we  can  properly  label  Old 
Testament  theology. 

The  Old  Testament  is  the  fragmentary  record  of  a  growing 
religious  life.  Changing  environment,  growing  experience, 
the  coming  and  going  of  towering  personalities,  kept  Israel's 
life  from  becoming  fixed  and  rigid.  No  two  centuries  pre- 
sented the  same  type  of  religious  thought  and  experience. 
But  theology  and  religious  experience  are,  or  at  least  ought 
to  be,  inseparably  related.  So  the  ever-changing  experience 
involved  an  ever-changing  theology.  The  seeker  after 
an  Old  Testament  theology  is  therefore  embarrassed  by  a 
superfluity  of  riches.  He  finds  not  one,  but  many  theologies. 
He  may,  e.g.,  speak  of  the  theology  of  Amos,  or  of  Isaiah,  or 
of  Ezekiel,  or  he  may  group  certain  personalities  and  formu- 
late a  theology  of  the  eighth  century  B.C.,  or  of  the  Exile. 
But  he  may  not  group  them  all  into  one  Old  Testament 
theology,  for  the  differences,  yea,  contradictions,  render 
such  a  step  impossible.  Nor  may  he  select  the  best  features 
from  the  various  periods  and  weave  them  into  a  harmonious 
whole.  The  result  would  be  an  eclectic  theology  derived  from 
the  Old  Testament,  but  not  an  Old  Testament  theology;  it 
would  be  an  abstract,  imaginary  thing  that  never  had  any 
historic  existence  or  value.  Nor  may  he  even  take  the 
theology  of  the  last  days  of  the  Old  Testament  period  and 
say,  "This  is  the  typical  Old  Testament  theology;  this 
is  the  ripe  fruitage  of  the  whole  process  of  growth;  it  is  the 
end,  the  purpose,  of  the  whole  theological  development  of  the 
Hebrews,  and  so  may  be  taken  as  fitly  representing  the  Old 
Testament  point  of  view  and  contribution  to  theological 
science."  Such  a  method  would  give  only  a  partial  presenta- 
tion of  the  theological  teachings  of  the  Old  Testament.  For 
the  theology  of  the  last  days  did  not,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  take 


I50        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

up  into  itself  all  the  good  of  the  preceding  ages,  no  matter  how- 
generous  we  may  be  in  our  attitude  toward  the  literary  and 
religious  activities  of  the  post-exilic  age. 

It  appears  then  that  Old  Testament  science  is  not  now, 
nor  ever  will  be,  in  a  position  to  present  to  the  systematic 
theologian  a  scheme  of  Old  Testament  theology  which  he  may 
accept  or  reject  in  whole  or  in  part  according  as  it  meets  or 
fails  to  meet  his  systematic  needs.  Old  Testament  science, 
with  all  of  its  departments,  belongs  in  the  category  of  his- 
torical disciplines.  Old  Testament  theology  must  give  way 
to  Religionsgeschichte.  It  is  from  this  point  of  view  only  that 
we  may  consider  its  relation  to  systematic  theology.  The 
adoption  of  this  conception  of  the  Old  Testament  as  the 
register  of  a  series  of  historical  permutations  of  life  and  thought 
carries  with  it  a  total  abandoment  of  the  conception  of  an 
external,  mechanical  authority  to  be  exercised  arbitrarily  over 
the  thoughts  of  men.  Such  authority  as  inheres  in  the  Old 
Testament  will  now  be  seen  to  be  conditioned  solely  upon  the 
existence  in  the  Old  Testament  of  great  truths  which  appeal 
with  compelling  force  to  the  mind  and  conscience  of  man.  It 
is  as  the  repository  of  such  self-authenticating  truth  as  needs 
no  factitious  support  of  any  kind  that  the  Old  Testament 
must  appeal  alike  to  the  religious  man  and  to  the  systematic 
theologian. 

The  Old  Testament  is  thus  a  sourcebook  for  the  theologian. 
Theology  may  ignore  no  phase  of  human  experience  from  the 
beginning  of  human  history.  It  must  take  into  account  all 
known  facts  of  both  past  and  present.  The  Old  Testament's 
value  for  theology  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is  the  record  of  an 
especially  illuminating  section  of  the  religious  history  of  our 
race.  In  that  period  were  wrought  out  the  foundations  of 
much  of  the  religious  thought  of  our  day.  We  understand  the 
nature  and  value  of  the  ideas  and  institutions  of  our  own 
religious  life  the  better  for  being  able  to  trace  their  origin  and 
growth.     A  satisfactory  theology  must  root  itself  deeply  in 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       151 

the  experience  of  former  generations  as  well  as  in  that  of 
contemporaries.  Here  the  Old  Testament  aids  the  theologian. 
It  does  not  in  any  sense  stand  as  dictator  over  his  utterances, 
but,  like  other  tributary  disciplines,  it  offers  him  free  use  of 
all  its  stores. 

The  Old  Testament  and  vital  religion. — It  is  unnecessary 
here  to  emphasize  the  great  contribution  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment to  moral  and  religious  character-building,  a  contribution 
much  of  which  lies  upon  the  surface  and  is  thus  within  the 
reach  of  every  reader.  The  great  sermons  of  the  prophets, 
the  spiritual  longings  and  ideals  of  the  Psalter,  the  sound 
maxims  of  the  sages — these  have  always  wrought  mightily  in 
the  experience  of  men  for  good,  no  matter  what  method  of 
interpretation  was  for  the  time  being  in  control.  But  it  may 
be  well  here  to  call  attention  to  a  phase  or  two  of  the  religious 
value  of  the  Old  Testament  that  are  not  so  commonly  recog- 
nized. 

Its  attitude  toward  truth. — One  of  the  most  significant 
things  in  the  Old  Testament  is  the  attitude  toward  truth 
therein  reflected.  The  Old  Testament  worthies  respected 
the  past;  yea,  reverenced  it.  They  never  tired  of  reference 
to  it.  They  gloried  in  their  history;  it  was  to  them  a  never- 
failing  fount  of  information  and  inspiration.  They  never 
dreamed  of  such  a  thing  as  ignoring  their  traditions.  They 
could  not  and  would  not  make  an  absolute  break  with  the 
accumulated  experience  of  preceding  centuries.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  they  did  not  blindly  worship  the  past.  They 
did  not  allow  it  to  take  such  complete  possession  of  them  as  to 
render  them  incapable  of  appreciating  the  present  or  of  mak- 
ing progress  toward  the  future.  They  valued  the  past  for 
what  it  had  to  teach  them  about  God  and  about  life;  but 
they  never  regarded  it  as  being  the  repository  of  all  knowledge 
or  the  full  and  complete  guidebook  for  all  time  to  come.  Their 
attitude,  indeed,  was  quite  the  reverse;  it  was  one  of  expecta- 
tion, anticipation,  hope.     They  were  ever  looking  eagerly, 


152         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

longingly,  confidently,  for  new  light  to  flash  forth  from  above. 
They  were  decidedly  receptive  toward  new  ideas.  They  did 
not  attempt  to  open  "the  future's  golden  portals  with  the 
past's  blood-rusted  key." 

The  history  of  Hebrew  literature  clearly  demonstrates  this. 
It  is  a  history  of  revisions.  New  editions  of  the  old  truths 
were  constantly  in  demand.  We  have  only  to  call  to  mind 
the  three  great  editions  of  the  Hebrew  law,  each  of  them  prac- 
tically a  rewriting  of  the  old  lawbook.  Between  these  great 
editions  there  was  constantly  going  on  a  process  of  correction 
and  expansion  in  preparation  for  a  new  code.  All  this  was  in 
response  to  the  growth  of  knowledge  and  to  the  ever-changing 
needs  of  the  time.  The  law  of  Israel  was  not  the  cold,  dead 
thing  that  it  is  so  commonly  conceived  to  have  been ;  it  was  a 
vital  organism,  in  closest  touch  with  the  growing  life  of  the 
nation.  It  was  not  too  sacred  and  holy  for  the  touch  of 
human  hands.  Its  promoters  never  conceived  of  it  as  having 
reached  the  stage  of  finality.  It  grew  under  their  hands  up  to 
the  very  last.  There  were  not  wanting  men  who  even  dared 
to  look  forward  to  the  time  when  the  written  law  would  be 
outgrown,  a  thing  of  the  past,  having  fully  accomplished  its 
mission — ^and  all  this  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  held 
it  to  be  a  revelation  from  God.  They  knew  better  than  to 
think  that  the  revelation  of  one  age  could  satisfy  the  needs  of 
every  age.  Each  age  must  have  its  own  revelation  from  God. 
Jesus  did  but  reincarnate  the  old  spirit  of  Israel's  best  thinkers 
when  he  dared  to  set  aside  certain  phases  of  the  law  of  Moses 
and  to  substitute  for  them  great,  far-reaching  principles  of 
truth  and  right. 

The  same  spirit  of  independence  and  progress  is  manifested 
in  the  prophets,  and  even  to  a  greater  degree  than  in  the  law. 
The  very  foundation  of  prophecy  lay  in  the  conviction  that 
God  was  ever  ready  to  speak  to  his  children,  that  he  had  not 
yet  exhausted  his  message  to  Israel.  Consequently,  with 
every  fresh  crisis  in  the  history  of  Israel  there  appeared  great 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       153 

prophets  with  the  necessary  message  from  God.  They  con- 
ceived it  to  be  their  task  to  interpret  the  world  as  they  found 
it,  and  not  as  their  fathers  or  grandfathers  had  known  it. 
They  utilized  the  experience  of  the  past  for  the  interpretation 
of  the  present;  but  ear  and  eye  were  ever  open  and  alert  for 
the  divine  message  in  the  new,  in  the  experiences  of  today. 

In  ethical  and  theological  ideas  growth  was  manifested  and 
progress  was  made;  so  that,  at  the  end,  the  religion  of  Israel 
was  immeasurably  richer  and  more  spiritual  than  it  was  at 
the  beginning.  The  religion  of  Israel  was  not  a  static  thing, 
but  a  dynamic  spirit.  It  was  not  a  gift  from  above,  bestowed 
upon  Israel  at  the  beginning  of  her  career  to  be  carefully 
treasured  in  earthen  vessels.  Nor  was  it  a  series  of  gifts, 
imparted  from  time  to  time  in  some  way  wholly  unrelated  to 
the  natural  and  normal  life  of  the  people.  It  was  an  achieve- 
ment, wrought  out  with  heroic  faith  and  courage  and  mar- 
velous persistence. 

Israel  was  girded  for  this  task  in  no  way  that  was  not 
available  to  her  fellow-workers  in  that  age  or  to  her  successors 
in  the  present  age.  The  story  of  her  religious  progress  is  not 
one  of  unbroken  success  and  steady  advance.  She  labored 
under  the  same  limitations  that  beset  religious  men  today. 
She  encountered  the  same  opposition  and  was  subjected  to  the 
same  sorts  of  temptation  and  trial.  The  whole  record  is 
intensely  human  and,  for  that  reason,  intensely  interesting. 
Her  good  men  did  not  always  think  alike  or  feel  alike.  Radical 
differences  of  opinion  at  times  separated  her  prophets  and 
saints  in  hostile  camps.  There  was  no  royal  road  to  truth  and 
power  in  Israel.  The  men  of  Israel  had  to  struggle  toward 
the  truth  and  to  agonize  for  it  even  as  men  must  now.  There 
is  no  discharge  from  that  war.     It  is  man's  heritage. 

The  task  of  faith.— Nor  was  the  task  of  faith  any  easier 
then  than  now.  The  Hebrew  faith  insisted  that  godhness  ought 
to  be  profitable  for  all  things.  Prosperity  and  piety  were 
almost    interchangeable    terms.     But    the    actual    facts    of 


154        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

experience  seemed  to  contradict  such  doctrine  at  every  turn. 
The  national  history  is  one  of  successive  disasters.  The 
greater  nations  of  the  Orient,  one  after  another,  conquered 
and  exploited  Israel.  The  people  of  Yahweh  were  almost  con- 
tinuously trodden  under  the  foot  of  the  Gentiles.  The  more 
zealously  Israel  strove  to  please  her  God  the  less  did  he  seem 
to  do  for  her.  No  severer  test  of  faith  than  this  could  have 
been  devised.  But  Israel  held  fast  to  her  God.  Forced  to 
abandon  hope  of  reUef  in  the  present  dispensation  she  took 
refuge  in  the  thought  of  a  new  dispensation.  The  nation's 
goal  of  faith  became  the  establishment  of  a  messianic  kingdom 
upon  earth.  This  expectation  involved  the  coming  of  a  golden 
age  comparable  to  that  once  represented  by  the  Garden  of 
Eden.  All  the  wrongs  of  the  present  were  to  be  righted  in  the 
new  world;  and  Israel,  the  chosen  people,  was  to  be  exalted 
to  the  place  of  honor  and  power,  as  the  representative  of  God 
upon  earth.  It  was  almost  tantamount  to  saying  that,  in  the 
messianic  age,  all  conditions  would  be  exactly  the  reverse  of 
what  they  were  in  the  historical  Israel.  But  the  time  of  the 
fulfilment  of  this  dream  was  continually  deferred.  Out 
of  what  looked  like  the  national  grave  Ezekiel  saw  clearly 
the  coming  of  the  longed-for  kingdom  and  went  so  far  as  to 
prepare  an  outline  of  the  regulations  that  should  control  its 
work  and  worship.  The  Isaiah  of  the  Exile  saw  the  dawn  of 
the  messianic  age  upon  the  horizon  when  Cyrus  started  his 
career  of  conquest.  When  the  Persian  Empire  was  shaken 
to  its  foundations  upon  the  death  of  Cambyses,  the  prophets 
Haggai  and  Zechariah  were  certain  that  Yahweh  was  about 
to  intervene  and  to  introduce  the  messianic  kingdom. 
They  were  so  sure  of  this  that  they  confidently  identi- 
fied Zerubbabel  as  the  expected  Messiah.  This  hope  was 
again  aroused  by  the  personality  and  work  of  Nehemiah, 
whom  some  declared  to  be  the  Messiah.  So  Israel  went 
on  from  age  to  age  believing  in  God,  surviving  shock 
after    shock    of    disappointment    and    disillusionment,    and. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       155 

through  this  severe  process  of  training,  coming  ever  into  a 
clearer  and  better  conception  of  God.  Theological  dogmas 
were  modified  or  abandoned  in  order  to  make  place  for  new 
ones;  but  through  it  all  faith  endured.  The  trial  and 
triumph  of  faith  as  it  affects  the  life  and  religion  of  the  indi- 
vidual are  depicted  with  marvelous  skill  in  the  Book  of  Job. 
This  affords  us  a  view  of  the  kind  of  problem  that  was  of  vital 
importance  in  the  Hebrew  religious  experience  and  of  the 
unflinching  courage  and  of  the  loyalty  to  truth,  to  facts,  and 
to  God  of  which  the  Hebrews  were  capable.  Their  religion 
was  not  a  gift;  it  was  a  prize.  They  fought  for  it;  they 
suffered  for  it;  they  died.  But  through  their  struggle, 
endurance,  and  death  they  have  incalculably  enriched  the 
religious  life  of  all  ages. 

The  record  of  this  great  religious  experience  was  written 
for  our  learning.  That  experience  was  wrought  out  under 
ordinary  conditions,  such  as  are  common  to  men.  The 
Hebrews  were  given  no  extraordinary  or  abnormal  aids  or 
advantages  not  within  the  reach  of  other  men,  then  as  now. 
God  did  not  show  favor  toward  them  in  any  such  way  as  to 
render  them  exempt  from  the  temptations,  weaknesses,  fail- 
ures, and  sins  that  beset  us  all.  Nor  were  they  endued  with 
power  or  grace  that  was  not  accessible  to  other  men.  Having 
the  same  opportunities  and  being  possessed  of  the  same  facul- 
ties as  other  men,  no  more  and  no  less,  the  Hebrew  prophets 
and  saints  threw  themselves  heart  and  soul  into  the  task  of 
interpreting  the  world  about  them  in  terms  of  God.  The 
Old  Testament  is  the  record  of  their  success. 

Vitality  of  Hebrew  religion. — This  means  that  the  Old 
Testament  has  become  for  us,  as  compared  with  our  ancestors, 
a  more  human  document,  and  consequently  a  more  helpful  one. 
It  has  become,  that  is  to  say,  more  definitely  applicable  to  the 
conditions  of  modern  life.  We  learn  from  its  pages  how  the 
Hebrews  wrought  out  their  own  salvation.  In  this  record  of 
their  religious  experience  we  have  the  story  of  the  making 


156        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  a  religion.  The  thousand-year-long  process  is  portrayed 
before  our  eyes.  It  reveals  much  of  inestimable  value  to 
the  historical  student  of  religion.  The  Hebrew  religion  was 
always  "in  the  making";  it  was  never  a  finished  product. 
Each  generation  exercised  the  right  to  make  its  religion  for 
itself.  Not  that  they  started  out  afresh  each  time  by  casting 
overboard  all  the  accumulations  of  preceding  generations, 
but  they  did  not  hesitate  to  "prove  all  things"  in  order  that 
they  might  "hold  fast  that  which  was  good."  They  changed 
their  theology  from  time  to  time;  they  reorganized  their 
religious  institutions  as  changing  circumstances  and  changing 
views  required ;  they  accepted  materials  from  every  hand  and 
used  them  for  the  enrichment  of  their  religious  faith  and  hope. 
They  were  never  satisfied  with  present  attainments.  They 
were  constantly  striving  toward  something  better.  In  spite 
of  reaction  and  relapse  they  persisted  in  pushing  forward. 
They  were  by  no  means  making  a  religion  to  order  for  later 
generations;  they  were  rather  making  one  for  themselves, 
something  to  live  by  as  they  went  along.  What  they  had  to 
do  every  age  has  to  do  for  itself.  They  made  their  religion  in 
the  full  light  of  history.  They  made  it  out  of  their  daily 
experiences  in  the  great  currents  of  the  world's  life.  A  vital 
religion  is  always  in  the  making;  it  is  never  made.  Satis- 
faction with  present  achievement  spells  death  here  as  else- 
where. Religion  is  under  the  same  law  as  every  other  product 
of  the  human  spirit.  We  too  must  interpret  our  own  world 
religiously;  we  must  be  making  our  own  religion.  We  may 
learn  from  the  successes  of  the  Hebrews  and  profit  by  their 
failures. 

The  words  of  Matthew  Arnold  on  the  relation  of  modern 
poetry  to  that  of  the  ancients  apply  with  special  force  here: 
"The  present  has  to  make  its  own  poetry,  and  not  even 
Sophocles  and  his  compeers,  any  more  than  Dante  and 
Shakespere,  are  enough  for  it.  That  I  will  not  dispute.  But 
no  other  poets  so  well  show  to  the  poetry  of  the  present  the 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       157 

way  it  must  take."^  No  matter  how  much  we  may  learn 
from  Israel,  we  cannot  rest  content  with  that.  We  cannot 
shirk  the  task  of  making  a  religion  for  ourselves.  Ready-made 
religion,  from  whatever  age  it  may  come  to  us,  will  not  fit 
our  spiritual  needs,  however  well  it  may  have  fitted  the  age  in 
which  it  originated.  The  twentieth-century  world  needs  a 
twentieth-century  religion,  and  it  is  part  of  its  task  to  make 
that  religion  for  itself. 

The  Hebrews,  with  far  less  of  inherited  privilege  and  edu- 
cational and  social  opportunity  than  we,  carried  the  torch  of 
truth  and  piety  far  up  the  heights.  Material  civilization 
and  culture  have  moved  far  since  their  day  and  are  still  advanc- 
ing with  giant  strides.  Religion  and  morality  too,  upon  the 
basis  of  the  achievements  of  the  Hebrews,  have  added  greatly 
to  their  attainments.  But  progress  cannot  cease  at  any  point 
if  religion  is  to  remain  a  vital  force  in  the  lives  of  men.  As 
long  as  progress  is  characteristic  of  other  phases  of  human 
activity,  religion  too  must  grow.  It  cannot  remain  static 
while  all  else  is  dynamic.  "An  unchangeable  Christianity 
would  mean  the  end  of  Christianity  itself.  There  has  never 
been  such  an  unchangeable  Christianity  and  never  can  be  so 
long  as  it  belongs  genuinely  to  history."^  It  is  the  task  of  the 
leaders  of  the  religious  life  of  today  to  see  to  it  that  the  religion 
they  teach  and  embody  shall  be  one  suited  to  the  needs  of  the 
modern  world.  If  they  can  meet  the  demands  of  the  present 
age,  the  future  may  be  trusted  to  look  out  for  itself.  If  they 
serve  their  day  and  generation  faithfully  according  to  the 
will  of  God,  they  will  hand  on  the  heritage  to  their  successors 
with  some  increment  of  truth  and  power. 

An  inspiration  to  the  modern  minister. — The  modern  atti- 
tude toward  the  Old  Testament  brings  to  the  true  preacher  a 
sense  of  freedom  and  the  realization  of  a  creative  opportunity. 

'  From  the  closing  paragraph  of  the  essay  on  The  Pagan  and  the  Christian 
Sentiment. 

=  Ernst  Troeltsch  in  American  Journal  of  Theology,  XVII  (January, 
1913),  21. 


158        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

He  discovers  himself  to  be  in  the  hne  of  the  prophetic  suc- 
cession, at  least,  even  if  he  dare  not  lay  claim  to  "apostolic 
succession."  He  is  released  from  the  necessity  of  merely 
repeating,  in  parrot  fashion,  the  mes'sages  of  men  long  since 
dead.  His  work  is  at  once  seen  to  be  of  the  same  kind  as  that 
of  his  great  prophetic  predecessors.  They  had  no  Bible  from 
which  they  must  preach  or  from  which  they  might  learn. 
Equipped  with  a  knowledge  of  a  few  traditions  regarding 
their  people's  history,  they  studied  closely  the  social  and 
political  conditions  of  their  times  and  poured  forth  words 
of  scathing  denunciation  of  wrong,  or  glowing  assurances  of 
Yahweh's  purpose  to  deliver,  as  the  situation  might  demand. 
They  preached  to  the  people  of  their  own  day  and  about  the 
things  in  which  the  nation  was  most  deeply  concerned.  They 
applied  their  highest  ideals  of  religion  and  ethics  to  every 
phase  of  contemporary  life.  When  Jerusalem  was  split  into 
contending  political  parties,  one  pro-Assyrian  and  another 
pro-Egyptian,  Isaiah  preached  on  politics.  When  the  rich 
were  grinding  the  face  of  the  poor  and  swallowing  up  widows' 
houses,  men  like  Amos  and  Micah  became  the  champions  of 
the  poor  and  preached  social  justice.  Such  men  did  not  frit- 
ter away  their  time  upon  the  exposition  of  abstract  and  dead 
issues  nor  upon  the  contemplation  of  iridescent  dreams. 
They  used  the  raw  materials  of  contemporary  life  in  the 
structure  of  their  religion.  They  were  not  content  with 
pointing  out  the  dealings  of  God  with  past  generations  nor 
with  dwelling  upon  his  purpose  for  the  future;  but  they  took 
the  events  and  movements  of  their  own  day  and  gave  them 
religious  significance.  Hence  their  words  have  great  and  im- 
perishable value  for  all  time,  not  because  they  set  out  to 
write  great  books,  but  because,  being  great  men,  they  grappled 
fearlessly  and  effectively  with  the  real  problems  of  their  own 
day.  The  history  of  Greece  and  Rome  furnishes  us  a  familiar 
analogy  here.  A  well-known  classical  scholar,  speaking  of 
the  new  education,  has  said: 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL        159 

I  have  tarried  a  moment  with  the  ancients,  instead  of  beginning 
much  later  in  the  history  of  Europe,  expressly  to  suggest  that  the  best 
things  in  ancient  literature  were  not  written  solely  from  the  artistic,  but 
often  from  the  social  motive  as  well.  Letters,  and  originally  men  of 
letters,  were  not  sundered  from  public  life,  but  actively  contributed  to  it. 
If  the  classics  have  molded  later  history,  it  is  not  merely  because  of  their 
great  qualities  as  literature,  but  because  they  are  involved  in  the  history 
of  their  own  times.' 

It  is  such  wrestling  with  the  social,  political,  and  religious 
problems  of  one's  age  that  makes  intellectual,  moral,  and 
religious  fiber  strong.  No  greatness  ever  came  as  the  result 
of  a  mere  slavish  doing  over  again  of  the  things  that  have 
already  been  done,  or  of  a  thinking  over  again  of  the  thoughts 
that  have  already  been  thought.^  It  is  always  in  some  degree 
the  application  of  the  old  idea  to  a  new  situation  in  a  vital 
way  that  makes  the  old  idea  into  something  new  and  great. 
The  prophets  sought  all  the  light  the  past  had  to  shed  upon 
their  task.  But  they  gave  themselves  primarily  and  with 
open  minds  to  the  study  of  their  own  times.  The  evils  and 
errors  of  their  contemporaries  they  undertook  to  detect  and 
correct.  It  was  their  unselfish  and  untrammeled  devotion  to 
the  tasks  of  their  own  day  that  made  them  great  and  resulted 
in  a  literature  that  is  an  object  of  admiration  and  a  fountain 
of  inspiration  to  all  thoughtful  men. 

The  Old  Testament  prophets  are  a  worthy  example  and 
inspiration  for  the  modern  preacher.  They  call  him  to  the* 
exercise  of  his  highest  function.  They  would  not  justify 
him,  indeed,  in  ignoring  the  wisdom  and  experience  of  the 
past;  but  they  urge  upon  him  the  duty  and  privilege  of 
utilizing  the  past  for  the  illumination  of  the  present.  They 
indicate  to  him  that  his  task  is  to  study  the  conditions  of  his 

'  Professor  E.  K.  Rand,  of  Harvard,  in  Latin  and  Greek  in  American  Educa- 
tion, edited  by  F.  Kelsey  (New  York:  Macmillan,  191 1),  p.  262. 

'  Cf.  the  words  of  E.  A.  Ross,  in  The  Changing  Chinese  (191 1),  p.  54, 
regarding  the  intellectual  sterility  of  the  Chinese:  "As  well  expect  an  apple 
tree  to  blossom  in  October  as  expect  genius  to  blossom  among  people  convinced 
that  the  perfection  of  wisdom  had  been  granted  to  the  sages  of  antiquity." 


i6o        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

own  day  and  to  address  himself  to  the  betterment  of  those 
conditions  in  the  fear  of  God  and  of  none  other.  The  proph- 
ets, living  in  a  small  world,  made  a  great  religion.  We  live 
in  a  world  immeasurably  greater  than  that  of  the  prophets' 
thought.  Our  God  is  the  God  of  a  boundless  universe.  Is 
our  religion  proportionately  greater  ?  Have  we  made  a  place 
in  our  religion  for  every  remotest  comer  and  every  hidden 
force  and  inexplicable  power  of  this  universe?  Have  we 
succeeded  in  adjusting  our  thought  of  God  to  our  expanding 
world,  as  the  Hebrews  were  able  to  enlarge  their  thought, 
which  carried  Yahweh  along  from  the  most  restricted  begin- 
nings until  he  became  the  God  of  the  whole  known  world  ? 

What  was  it  that  made  the  prophets  so  strong  and  fearless 
in  the  execution  of  their  commission?  Their  reliance  upon 
God.  They  were  ever  conscious  of  his  presence  in  his  world. 
They  saw  proof  of  his  activity  on  every  hand,  in  the  phe- 
nomena of  nature  and  in  the  course  of  history.  They  con- 
ceived of  him  as  seeking  to  make  known  his  will  to  man. 
They  thought  of  themselves  as  his  mouthpiece.  As  the 
spokesmen  of  God  they  could  not  keep  silent  when  his  will 
clamored  for  utterance.  "The  Lord  hath  spoken;  who  can 
but  prophesy?"  Some  such  consciousness  of  God  and  of 
working  together  with  God  is  indispensable  to  the  true 
preacher  in  whatever  age  he  may  appear.  A  preacher  not 
conscious  of  fellowship  with  the  God  of  the  universe  has  no 
message  for  this  age;  the  age  cries  out  for  God.  The  man 
who  can  make  God  seem  real  and  can  acquit  himself  as  a 
man  of  God  will  never  lack  a  hearing,  though  his  way  may  be 
a  via  dolorosa. 

The  church  needs  leaders.  The  record  of  Israel's  leaders 
is  a  splendid  challenge  to  the  men  of  today.  It  appeals  to  all 
that  is  highest  and  holiest  in  the  one  ambitious  to  ''do  great 
things  for  God."  Israel's  saints  expected  great  things  from  God, 
but  received  greater  thmgs  than  those  for  which  they  hoped. 
Coveting  position  and  power  for  their  nation  among  the 


OLD  TESTAMENT  AND  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL       i6i 

nations  of  the  world,  they  received  instead  exalted  purity  of 
thought,  magnificent  ethical  passion,  and  a  depth  of  spiritual 
insight  that  have  made  the  whole  world  their  debtors.  If  the 
men  of  this  and  succeeding  generations,  following  the  example 
of  their  Hebrew  predecessors,  will  become  the  fearless  spokes- 
men and  champions  of  a  virile  and  spiritually  progressive 
Christianity,  it  is,  perhaps,  not  too  much  to  hope  that  the 
religion  of  the  not-far-distant  future  will  be  as  much  greater 
than,  and  different  from,  that  of  today  as  present  religion 
differs  from,  and  is  greater  than,  the  Judaism  of  post-exilic 
Israel. 

Literature  on  the  religious  value  of  the  Old  Testament. — A.  W.  Ver- 
non, The  Religious  Value  of  the  Old  Testament  in  the  Light  of  Modern 
Scholarship  (New  York:  Crowell  &  Co.,  1907);  M.  Dods,  The  Bible — 
Its  Origin  and  Nature  (New  York:  Scribner,  1905);  W.  G.  Jordan, 
Biblical  Criticism  and  Modern  Thought.  Or  the  Place  of  the  Old  Testament 
Documents  in  the  Life  of  Today  (Edinburgh:  T.  &  T.  Clark,  1909); 
G.  A.  Smith,  Modern  Criticism  and  the  Preaching  of  the  Old  Testament 
(New  York:  Armstrong  &  Son,  1901);  J.  E.  McFadyen,  The  Old  Testa- 
ment and  the  Christian  Church  (New  York:  Scribner,  1903);  W.  N. 
Clarke,  Sixty  Years  with  the  Bible  (New  York:  Scribner,  1909);  A.  S. 
Peake,  The  Bible,  Its  Origin,  Its  Significance  and  Its  Abiding  Worth 
(New  York:  George  H.  Doran  Co.,  1913);  W.  C.  Selleck,  The  New 
Appreciation  of  the  Bible  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press, 
1907) ;  C.  F.  Kent,  The  Origin  and  Permanent  Value  of  the  Old  Testament 
(New  York:  Scribner,  1906);  L.  W.  Batten,  The  Old  Testament  from  the 
Modern  Point  of  View  (New  York:  E.  S.  Gorham,  1901);  W.  R.  Smith, 
The  Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish  Church,  2d  ed.  (London:  A.  &  C.  Black, 
1895). 


IV.     THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 

By  ERNEST  DeWITT  BURTON 

Professor  and  Head  of  the  Department  of  New  Testament  Literature  and 

Interpretation,  The  University  of  Chicago 

AND 

EDGAR  JOHNSON  GOODSPEED 

Professor  of  Biblical  and  Patristic  Greek,  The  University  of  Chicago. 


ANALYSIS 

PAGES 

Introduction 165-174 

I.  The  Books  of  the  New  Testament  and  Their  Interpretation. — 
I.  The  general  nature  of  the  interpretative  process. — 2.  The  environ- 
ment of  early  Christianity. — 3.  The  occasion  and  purpose  of  the 
several  books. — 4.  The  acquisition  of  the  language  of  the  New 
Testament. — 5.   The  criticism  of  the  text. — 6.   The  interpretation 

of  the  books 174-220 

II.  The  History  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  Christian  Church. — 
I.  The  history  of  interpretation  and  criticism. — 2.  The  history  of  the 

Canon 220-228 

III.  The  Use  of  the  New  Testament  at  the  Present  Day. — i.  For 
purposes  of  history.— 2.  For  systematic  theology  and  ethics. — 3.  For 
the  cultivation  of  personal  character. — 4.  For  religious  teaching  and 
preaching 228-238 

■    Note. — Of  the  foregoing  the  Introduction,  I,  i,  2,  4,  6,  and  III 
are  by  Professor  Burton.     1, 3, 5,  and  II  are  by  Professor  Goodspeed. 


IV.    THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 

introduction:    general  purpose  and  scope  of  new 
testament  study 

I.  The  purpose  and  general  character  of  New  Testament 
Study. — The  purposes  for  which  the  New  Testament  is 
legitimately  studied  are  many,  but  they  may  be  compre- 
hensively stated  as  two — the  intellectual  and  the  religious. 
Men  come  to  it  to  get  knowledge  or  to  get  help  for  the  better 
Hving  of  their  Hves  as  religious  men.  But  these  two  purposes 
again  blend  into  one  another.  One  may  conceivably  acquire 
knowledge — geographical,  archaeological,  historical,  or  doc- 
trinal— without  any  religious  benefit.  But  normally  at  least 
one  can  gain  no  religious  benefit  except  through  the  medium  of 
an  intellectual  process.  It  is  through  the  ideas  that  come  to 
us  from  the  New  Testament  that  we  gain  spiritual  benefit,  and 
it  is  with  these  ideas  that  New  Testament  study  has  directly 
to  do. 

But  we  may  seek  ideas  from  the  New  Testament  along 
several  different  lines  and  by  several  different  methods.  We 
may  conceivably  treat  the  New  Testament  as  a  book  of  magic 
and  seek  to  discover  in  it  sentences  which,  regardless  of  their 
original  connection  or  meaning,  shall  give  guidance  in  the  per- 
plexities of  Hfe.  We  may  think  of  it  as  furnishing  a  program 
of  the  future  and  seek  from  it  to  write  history  before  the 
fact.  We  may  come  to  it  as  to  a  source-book  of  ethics,  culling 
from  it  its  moral  maxims  and  constructing  them  into  a  code, 
or  of  theology,  and  endeavor  from  its  utterances  to  construct 
a  system  of  Christian  thought. 

The  tendency  of  recent  years,  however,  is  to  emphasize 
the  historical  aspect  of  New  Testament  study.  And  this 
seems  to  be  right.     For,  in  the  first  place,  interpretation,  by 

165 


1 66         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

/ 
which  alone  we  obtain  the  ideas  of  the  New  Testament,  is 

itself  a  historical  process.     Its  comprehensive  question  is, 

What  thought  did  the  writer  of  the  book  have  in  his  mind 

and  by  his  book  endeavor  to  express  ?     The  answer  to  this 

question  is  that  he  thought  thus  and  so,  and  this  fact  that 

he  so  thought  is  a  fact  of  history,  as  much  so  as  the  date  of  a 

battle  or  the  name  of  a  king.     Secondly,  all  the  processes  that 

are  contributory  to  interpretation  are  themselves  in  the  field  of 

historical  study.     If  one  ask  the  meaning  of  an  ancient  word, 

or  the  force  of  a  Greek  tense,  or  which  of  two  readings  of  a 

passage  of  the  New  Testament  is  the  original  one,  he  is  asking 

for  facts  of  history.     And,  in  the  third  place,  if  from  the 

facts  ascertained  by  the  interpretation  of  ancient  records  one 

seeks  to  construct  the  story  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  or  an  account 

of  his  teaching,  he  is  obviously  engaged  in  historical  study. 

It  is  facts  of  history  in  their  historic  relations  with  which  he 

is  dealing. 

This  is  not,  however,  to  say  that  the  results  of  the  inter- 
pretative process  have  no  value  except  for  purposes  of  history. 
The  New  Testament  books  are  rich  in  profound  and  stimulat- 
ing religious  thought,  and  because  of  this  fact  have  a  value 
as  religious  hterature  quite  apart  from  their  value  to  the 
historian. 

At  two  points,  therefore,  the  historical  study  of  the  New 
Testament  may  make  its  contribution  to  religious  thought  and 
life:  first,  at  the  end  of  the  process  of  interpretation,  when  it 
turns  over  to  the  theologian  or  the  religious  man  needing 
inspiration  and  stimulus  the  rich  treasure  of  religious  thought 
which  exegetical  study  has  discovered,  and,  secondly,  at  the 
end  of  the  process  of  historical  construction,  when  it  has 
written  the  history  of  the  early  church. 

From  both  points  of  view,  whether  we  think  of  the  New 
Testament  books  as  sources  from  which  we  may  learn  the 
history  of  early  Christianity,  or  as  rehgious  literature  valuable 
as  such  independent  of  its  contribution  to  history,  they  are 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  167 

of  the  highest  value  for  the  rehgious  hfe  and  to  the  rehgious 
teacher.'  For  history  is  the  great  teacher  of  mankind,  and 
our  richest  inheritance  from  the  past  is  found  in  the  great 
thoughts  preserved  in  hterature. 

Nor  must  the  distinction  between  these  two  points  of 
view  be  overemphasized.  The  historian  must  recognize 
the  rehgious  value  of  the  books  in  order  to  be  a  good  his- 
torian. The  student  of  the  hterature  for  its  religious  value 
must  read  it  in  the  light  of  the  history  of  the  movement  out 
of  which  it  sprang  if  he  would  gain  from  it  its  highest  religious 
value.  The  thirteenth  chapter  of  the  First  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians  is  magnificent,  read  as  a  panegyric  of  love,  even 
when  detached  from  its  connection  and  historic  background. 
But  it  becomes  doubly  significant  and  expressive  when  it  is 
read  as  addressed  to  the  Corinthians,  who  were  ambitious  to 
possess  the  showy,  charismatic  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  and  were 
forgetting  and  depreciating  the  far  more  valuable  fruit  of 
the  Spirit,  love.  The  historian  must  be  appreciative  of  the 
material  with  which  he  is  dealing;  the  student  of  religion 
must  have  the  historical  spirit. 

2.  Interpretation  the  central  task. — With  the  task  of  his- 
torical construction,  though  it  falls  properly  within  the  field 
of  New  Testament  study,  we  are  not  at  this  point  immediately 
concerned.  For  reasons  of  practical  convenience  this  subject  is 
dealt  with  in  Chapter  V,  "The  Early  History  of  Christianity." 
That  which  claims  our  immediate  attention  is  that  which  is 
prerequisite  to  constructive  history,  viz.,  interpretation  and 
the  processes  contributory  thereto.  To  understand  the  nature 
and  methods  of  the  interpretative  process  and  its  central  place 
in  New  Testament  study  is  of  first  importance  to  the  New 
Testament  student. 

3.  Studies  preliminary  to  interpretation. — But  to  the 
interpretation  of  these  books  certain  other  studies  are  for  us 
of  today  necessary  preliminaries.     The  books  were  written 

'See  more  fully  under  section  III,  pp.  232  ff. 


1 68        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION  ' 

in  Greek;  they  have  been  preserved  in  manuscripts  of  the 
original  text  and  of  ancient  translations  which  do  not,  however, 
perfectly  agree  among  themselves  as  to  how  the  books  origi- 
nally read.  Hence  arises  the  necessity  for  a  process  of  textual 
criticism  by  which  the  original  text  may  be  as  nearly  as  possible 
recovered  (cf.  section  I,  5,  pp.  204  ff.). 

Furthermore,  since  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament  is  for 
us  a  foreign  tongue,  and  even  for  modern  Greeks  an  antiquated 
form  of  their  mother-tongue,  we  need,  in  order  to  ascertain 
with  accuracy  the  thought  of  the  writers  of  these  books,  a 
knowledge  of  the  grammar  and  vocabulary  of  that  ancient 
language  (cf.  section  I,  4,  pp.  200 ff.). 

But  not  only  so;  for  the  interpretation  of  the  books  from 
which  we  learn  the  history  of  this  religious  movement  out 
of  which  Christianity  came  to  be  we  need  to  know  something  of 
the  story  of  their  own  origin  (cf.  section  I,  3,  pp.  180  ff.).  And 
to  an  understanding  of  the  origin  of  the  New  Testament  books 
there  is  needed  in  turn  a  knowledge  of  the  life  in  the  midst  of 
which  they  arose — ^that  of  the  Jewish  people  of  the  first  century 
and  of  the  Graeco-Roman  world  and  of  the  Christian  move- 
ment itself,  of  which  they  were  the  products  (cf.  section  I,  2, 
pp.  1 77  ff.).  In  other  words,  a  general  knowledge  of  the  origin  of 
Christianity,  of  the  environment  in  which  it  arose,  and  of  the 
way  in  which  it  came  to  express  itself  in  literature,  is  a  needful 
preparation  for  the  interpretation  of  the  books  from  which  we 
are  in  turn  to  gain  a  fuller  knowledge  of  the  rise  of  Chris- 
tianity. Thus  we  move  in  a  circle,  or  rather  in  a  spiral :  from 
the  books  by  a  simple  and  incomplete  interpretation  we  gain 
a  general  knowledge  of  the  movement;  with  the  aid  of  this 
we  read  the  books  with  fresh  understanding,  and  this  in  turn 
leads  to  a  larger  knowledge  of  the  movement,  and  so  on 
indefinitely. 

4.  Studies  that  must  follow  interpretation. — But  if  these 
things,  textual  criticism,  grammar,  lexicography,  and  a 
general  knowledge  of  the  times  in  which  and  of  the  move- 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  169 

ment  out  of  which  the  books  arose,  are  necessary  preliminaries 
to  the  interpretation  of  the  books  and  of  any  other  sources  of 
the  history  of  the  beginnings  of  Christianity,  there  must  be 
added  to  the  work  of  interpretation  certain  other  processes  if 
New  Testament  study  is  to  achieve  its  goal.  These  processes 
subsequent  to  interpretation  may  be  described  as  the  critical 
and  the  constructive.  For  the  results  of  interpretation  are 
the  thoughts  of  the  ancient  writers,  and  the  interpretative 
process  does  not,  of  itself,  determine  their  value  for  the  pur- 
poses of  history  or  for  the  promotion  of  the  moral  and  spiritual 
life.  The  student  of  the  New  Testament  who  would  gain  from 
his  study  the  largest  value  must  on  the  one  hand  carefully 
avoid  diverting  the  interpretative  process  from  its  proper 
goal  by  premature  estimations  of  value,  and  on  the  other  hand 
must  add  to  the  work  of  interpretation  both  a  critical  and  a 
constructive  process. 

The  critical  process  as  it  deals  with  narrative  material  has 
for  its  purpose  to  add  to  the  fact  that  the  writer  believed 
certain  events  to  have  happened  in  a  certain  way,  a  well- 
founded  judgment  as  to  what  actually  happened.  Luke  says 
that  John  began  to  preach  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  Tiberius. 
Is  his  chronology  correct?  As  pertains  to  material  of  a 
didactic  character,  the  critical  process  seeks  to  add  to  the 
historic  fact  that  a  given  writer  held  this  or  that  view  of  reli- 
gion or  morals — itself  a  valuable  fact  immediately  available 
for  the  history  of  thought— a  judgment  called  for,  not  by  the 
historian,  but  by  the  theologian  or  the  moralist,  concerning  the 
value  of  the  doctrine  held  by  this  ancient  writer.  Paul 
held  that  marriage  was  desirable  only  under  certain  conditions 
and  for  certain  reasons.     Was  this  judgment  a  sound  one  ? 

When  we  engage  in  the  critical  task  in  the  field  of  event, 
i.e.,  when  we  seek  to  ascertain  what  happened  in  the  New 
Testament  times,  whether  the  question  pertain  to  external 
event  or  internal  thought,  though  we  are  no  longer  inter- 
preters, we  are  still  in  the  field  of  New  Testament  study, 


lyo         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

for  we  are  still  dealing  with  the  history  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment period.  So,  also,  when  we  proceed  from  the  historical 
data  furnished  by  interpretation  and  criticism  to  construct 
the  history  of  the  rise  of  early  Christianity,  we  are  still  within 
the  New  Testament  field,  whether  dealing  with  events  or  ideas, 
since  both  events  and  ideas  are  facts  of  the  history  of  the  New 
Testament  period.  But  when,  having  discovered  by  our 
interpretative  process  that  a  given  early  Christian  writer 
or  teacher,  or  group  of  writers,  held  certain  opinions  and 
doctrines  we  proceed  to  subject  these  to  a  process  of  critical 
judgment  to  determine  howmuch  of  this  thought  can  justifiably 
be  taken  up  into  modern  thought,  we  are  certainly  on  the  outer 
edge  of  New  Testament  study  and  approaching  that  of 
theology  and  ethics.  We  are  dealing,  not  with  the  facts  of  the 
past,  but  with  present  values.  The  New  Testament  student 
may  certainly  ask  these  questions,  but  he  has  perhaps  in  that 
fact  become  something  else  than  a  New  Testament  student. 

5.  Closer  definition  of  the  field  of  New  Testament  study. — 
The  study  of  the  New  Testament  as  thus  understood  is  accord- 
ingly wholly  a  historical  task.  The  studies  preliminary  to 
interpretation  deal  wholly  with  historical  questions.  Inter- 
pretation itself  is  a  process  of  historic  inquiry.  The  results  of 
interpretation  have  a  double  value  and  use.  The  student  may 
use  them  as  data  for  the  construction  of  the  history  of  early 
Christianity  or  for  their  intrinsic  value  in  the  field  of  religious 
thought  and  life.  In  the  former  case  he  is  still  the  historian 
of  the  New  Testament  period  of  the  Christian  movement; 
in  the  latter  he  is  passing  into  the  field  of  the  theologian  and 
the  preacher. 

6.  The  use  of  other  books  than  those  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment canon. — But  the  recognition  of  New  Testament  study 
as  historical  and  as  including  within  its  task  the  construction 
of  the  history  of  the  rise  of  Christianity  compels  the  inclusion 
of  other  books  than  those  of  the  New  Testament  within  its 
field  of  work.    There  are  two  reasons  for  this  broadening  of  the 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  171 

field:  first,  because  from  these  other  books  we  discover  the 
environment  in  which  Christianity  arose,  and,  secondly, 
because  from  them  we  gain  supplementary  data  for  its  early 
history. 

The  sources  of  the  history  of  any  period  or  people  consist  of 
those  historical  documents  and  monuments  which  furnish 
valuable  testimony  of  what  took  place  in  that  period  among 
that  people.  These  sources  may  be  classified  as  direct  and 
indirect,  the  former  including  those  that  testify  directly  con- 
cerning the  matter  in  hand,  and  the  latter  consisting  of  those 
which  by  their  evidence  concerning  the  antecedents  and 
surroundings  of  the  movement  under  consideration  furnish 
a  basis  for  the  understanding  of  the  direct  sources  and  of  the 
historic  movement  as  a  whole. 

Under  such  a  definition  we  cannot  either  in  principle  or  in 
fact  strictly  identify  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  with 
the  sources  of  the  history  of  early  Christianity.  Yet,  we  shall 
not  be  far  wrong  if  we  think  of  these  as  constituting  the  direct 
sources  of  our  study.  When  the  church  of  the  second  century 
collected  from  the  existing  literary  produ(^ts  of  the  new  reH- 
gious  movement  the  books  that  gradually  came  to  be  accepted, 
along  with  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  the  sacred 
Hterature  of  the  Christian  church,,  the  test  by  which  they 
were  selected  was  not  indeed  their  value  for  historical  purposes, 
but  their  value  for  doctrine  and  edification.  Yet,  in  fact,  the 
church  chose  none  which  are  not  valuable  for  the  history  of 
the  origin  and  early  development  of  Christianity,  and  but  few 
that  do  not  belong  to  the  first  century;  and  on  the  other  hand 
it  did  not  fail  to  include  the  most  important  of  the  sources, 
at  least  of  those  which  are  still  extant.  When,  therefore, 
modern  bibhcal  scholarship  came  gradually  to  assume  the 
historical  point  of  view  and  to  esteem  the  books  of  ancient 
times  not  only  for  their  devotional  and  inspirational  value, 
but  also  as  sources  of  history,  it  not  only  followed  a  natural 
course,  but  was  substantially  right  from  a  historical  point 


172        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  view  in  continuing  to  use  as  the  principal  subjects  of  its 
historical  study,  and  the  principal  sources  of  the  history  it  was 
endeavoring  to  construct,  the  books  of  the  New  Testament. 

It  would  indeed  be  of  immense  value  to  us  to  possess  today 
some  of  the  books  which  our  study  of  the  New  Testament 
books  and  of  early  tradition  has  shown  to  have  existed  in  the 
first  or  second  century,  such,  e.g.,  as  the  Logia  of  Matthew 
or  the  works  of  Papias.  Yet  if  we  are  speaking  of  direct 
sources  still  extant  for  the  history  of  the  Christian  movement 
down  to,  let  us  say,  the  production  of  the  Fourth  Gospel, 
we  shall  have  to  add  to  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  per- 
haps only  the  First  Epistle  of  Clement,  and  we  shall  omit, 
not  as  having  no  value,  but  as  falling  outside  the  period,  at 
most  only  two  or  three  of  the  general  epistles,  say  II  Peter 
and  Jude  and  possibly  James. 

Of  the  indirect  sources,  those  from  which  we  are  able  to 
recover  the  environment  of  early  Christianity,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  number  is  legion.  To  this  class  belong  all  the 
books  that  were  produced  by  the  Jewish  people  in  the  last 
two  centuries  before  Christ  and  the  first  century  after  (in 
a  sense,  indeed,  the  earher  literature,  including  the  whole  Old 
Testament),  and  all  those  numerous  works  by  non- Jewish 
authors  which  reflect  for  us  the  currents  of  thought  in  the 
Roman  Empire  in  the  period  in  which  Christianity  was  fiaiding 
its  way  out  from  Jerusalem  to  all  the  lands  of  the  Empire. 

7.  Subsidiary  lines  of  studies.— In  still  another  direction 
also  we  may  legitimately  extend  the  boundaries  of  New 
Testament  study  in  order  to  include  two  subsidiary  sub- 
jects which  are  necessary  in  order  to  give  to  New  Testament 
scholarship  due  breadth  and  balance,  and  to  insure  a  proper 
measure  of  contact  with  the  practical  interests  of  the  reHgious 
Hfe.  On  the  one  hand,  in  accordance  with  the  general  prin- 
ciple that  any  process  of  investigation  is  illuminated  by  a 
knowledge  of  the  experience  of  previous  study  in  the  same 
field,  students  of  the  New  Testament  have  found  it  expedient 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  173 

to  examine  into  the  history  of  the  use  of  the  New  Testament 
in  the  Christian  church.  On  the  other  hand,  the  study  of  the 
New  Testament  does  not  find  its  end  in  itself,  but  in  the  con- 
tribution which  it  can  make  to  Hfe.  For  this  reason,  and 
because  a  perception  of  the  end  to  be  achieved  illuminates  the 
whole  process,  it  is  expedient  that  a  general  survey  of  the 
field  of  New  Testament  study  should  include  a  consideration 
of  the  relation  of  New  Testament  study  to  such  other  interests 
as  those  of  systematic  theology  and  the  religious  hfe  of  the 
modern  man.  ^ 

8.  The  divisions  of  the  field. — The  whole  field  of  the  New 
Testament  study  may  then  be  subdivided  as  follows: 

I.  The  Books  of  the  New  Testament  and  Their  Interpretation. 

1.  The  general  nature  of  the  interpretative  process. 

2.  The  environment  of  early  Christianity. 

3.  The  discovery  of  the  occasion  and  purpose  of  the  several  books — 
Introduction  to  New  Testament  literature. 

4.  The  acquisition  of  the  language  of  the  New  Testament. 

5.  The  recovery  of  the  text:  Textual  criticism. 

6.  The  interpretation  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament. 

XL  The  History  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  Christian  Church. 

1.  History  of  interpretation  and  criticism. 

2.  History  of  the  Canon. 

III.  The  Use  of  the  New  Testament  at  the  Present  Day. 

1.  For  purposes  of  history. 

2.  For  systematic  theology  and  ethics. 

3.  For  the  cultivation  of  personal  character. 

4.  For  religious  teaching  and  preaching. 

But  while  all  these  studies  fall  within  the  range  of  New 
Testament  study,  and  must  be  pursued  with  thoroughness 
and  accuracy  by  someone,  if  we  of  this  generation  are  to 
understand  the  New  Testament  and  know  how  our  religion 
came  to  be,  it  does  not  follow  either  that  every  student  of  the 
New  Testament  must  pursue  these  studies  in  the  order 
indicated  or  that  every  one  shall  pursue  all  these  hues  of 
study.  Thus  a  given  student  may  carry  on  his  study  of  the 
New  Testament  on  the  basis  of  a  modern  critical  text  of  its 


174         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

books  without  knowing  anything  about  the  evidence  on  which 
this  text  is  based  or  the  principles  according  to  which  such 
evidence  must  be  used  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  true  text. 
In  this  particular  part  of  the  field  he  may  simply  accept  the 
results  of  the  studies  made  by  other  men.  Again,  he  may — 
most  students  do  and  must — -use  the  lexicons  and  grammars 
written  by  other  men  without  investigating  the  evidence  on 
which  they  are  based.  He  may  even  do  his  work  of  inter- 
pretation on  the  basis  of  a  translation  instead  of  a  Greek 
text,  in  which  case,  instead  of  taking  the  word  of  the  lexicog- 
rapher as  to  what  individual  Greek  words  mean,  he  accepts 
the  word  of  a  translator  as  to  what  whole  sentences  mean,  so 
far  as  that  meaning  can  be  indicated  by  a  more  or  less  literal 
translation.  No  scholar,  however  thorough,  is  wholly  inde- 
pendent of  others;  every  man  must  build  on  another  man's 
foundation;  but  some  begin  much  farther  back  than  others. 
Again  as  to  order  of  studies,  we  must,  as  indicated  above, 
move  in  a  spiral  rather  than  in  a  straight  line.  For  centuries 
the  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  interpreted  without  any 
systematic  development  of  the  preparatory  lines  of  study,  and 
each  such  study  still  depends  upon  the  others  and  upon  inter- 
pretation. The  order  of  studies  above  indicated  is  therefore 
a  logical  rather  than  a  hard-and-fast  chronological  or  peda- 
gogical one.  In  practice,  the  systematic  pursuit  of  the  differ- 
ent lines  of  study  may  well  be  in  the  order  indicated,  but  the 
thorough  student  will  necessarily  go  back  and  forward  from 
one  line  of  work  to  another,  using  the  results  of  all  the  studies 
he  has  at  any  time  made  to  deepen  his  knowledge  of  each  line  of 
study  to  which  he  returns. 

I.      THE  BOOKS  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  AND  THEIR 
INTERPRETATION 

I.  The  general   nature  of  the  interpretative  process. — • 

a)    The  meaning  of  the  word. — -The  word   "interpretation" 
(Latin  interpretation  cognate  with  interpres,  derived  from  inter 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  175 

partes)  primarily  denotes  the  act  of  one  who  stands  between 
two  others  to  communicate  the  thought  of  one  to  the  other. 
In  usage  it  denotes  most  commonly  the  process  of  discovering 
the  thought  of  another  from  its  expression,  with  or  without 
communication  of  the  thought  thus  discovered  to  a  third 
person.  Interpretation,  in  this  sense,  is  the  exact  correlate 
of  expression,  and  the  two  processes  enter  into  every  com- 
munication of  thought  from  mind  to  mind.  The  thinker  con- 
verts his  thought  by  expression,  so  to  speak,  into  a  visible 
or  audible  sjonbol,  and  the  receiving  mind  converts  the  symbol 
into  thought  again  by  the  process  of  interpretation.  More 
exactly  stated,  the  thinker  creates  or  utters  a  visible  or  audible 
symbol  of  what  he  has  in  his  mind,  and  the  interpreter, 
hearing  or  seeing  the  symbol  and  knowing  its  conventional 
value,  thinks  the  thought  for  which  the  symbol  stands. 

The  field  of  interpretation  in  this  sense  of  the  word  is  a 
very  wide  one.  The  lawyer,  the  student  of  literature,  the 
historian,  indeed  every  reader  of  what  is  written  or  printed, 
and  every  listener  to  the  speech  of  his  fellow-men,  is  an  inter- 
preter. Not  only  so,  but  all  who  look  at  pictures  or  listen 
to  music  do  so  with  the  intent  of  repeating  in  their  own  experi- 
ence that  which  the  painter  or  composer  thought  or  felt.  The 
fundamental  principles  of  interpretation  are,  moreover,  for  all 
of  these  interpreters  the  same.  In  all  of  them,  also,  the  term 
"interpretation"  is  used  either  of  the  process  by  which  one 
recovers  for  himself  that  which  has  been  expressed  in  symbol  or 
of  the  communication  of  what  he  has  thus  obtained  to  another. 

h)  A  definition  of  literary  interpretation. — -If  we  limit  our 
thought  for  the  moment  to  the  interpretation  of  literature, 
language  written  or  spoken,  we  may  define  interpretation  as 
the  process  of  re-presenting  to  one's  own  mind  (or  to  the  minds 
of  others)  the  whole  of  that  state  of  mind  of  the  author  of  which 
the  language  to  be  interpreted  was  the  expression 

c)  Some  untenable  methods  of  interpretation. — The  accept- 
ance of  this  definition,  which,  it  must  be  remembered,  is  based 


176         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

upon  the  premise  that  interpretation  is  the  correlate  and  com- 
plement of  expression,  leads  to  the  rejection  of  certain  methods 
of  interpretation  which  have  often  been  employed,  not  by 
bibhcal  interpreters  only,  but  especially  by  them. 

(i)  It  excludes  the  allegorical  method,  which  conceives 
that  the  meaning  of  what  is  written  is  to  be  found,  not  in  the 
thought  which  the  writer  had  in  mind,  but  in  that  which  is 
suggested  by  treating  statements  of  facts  as  allegories.  What 
is  written  allegorically  is,  of  course,  according  to  the  principles 
above  enunciated,  to  be  interpreted  as  allegory.  But  what 
is  here  described  as  the  allegorical  method  consists  in  treating 
unallegorical  language  as  allegorical,  in  defiance  of  the  prin- 
ciple that  interpretation  is  the  reproduction  of  the  thought  of 
the  author. 

(2)  It  excludes  the  mystical  method,  which,  assuming  that 
one  is  able  by  some  inner  light  to  discover  meanings  inde- 
pendently of  all  rules  and  principles,  really  abandons  the 
search  for  the  writer's  thought  and  sets  up  the  interpreter's 
thought  in  its  place.  The  element  of  truth  in  this  theory,  of 
which  it  is  important  not  to  lose  sight,  is  that  interpretation 
demands  s>Tnpathy  with  the  mind  of  the  writer  to  be  inter- 
preted, and  that  in  particular  the  interpreter  of  rehgious 
writings  must  himself  have  a  sympathetic  understanding  of 
the  possibilities  of  religious  experience. 

(3)  It  excludes  the  dogmatic  method,  which  assumes  that 
the  results  of  the  interpretation  of  a  certain  body  of  hterature 
must  conform  to  the  dogmas  of  an  accepted  body  of  doctrine 
or  system  of  thought.  This  method  takes  on  two  forms, 
the  traditionalistic  and  the  rationalistic.  In  the  former  the 
interpreter  finds  in  some  traditional  and  accepted  system  of 
doctrine  the  standard  and  criterion  of  the  results  of  inter- 
pretation. In  the  latter  he  sets  up  such  a  standard  in  a  system 
of  thought  arrived  at  by  supposedly  rational  processes.  The 
impulse  which  gives  rise  to  the  use  of  this  method  in  either 
of  its  forms  is  one  that  commands  respect,  arising,  as  it  does, 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  177 

out  of  the  desire  to  co-ordinate  all  the  results  of  one's  thought 
into  a  consistent  unity.  But  it  falls  into  the  obvious  but 
serious  error  of  assuming  that  one's  favorite  author  must 
have  held  the  same  views  of  truth  as  that  at  which  the  inter- 
preter himself  has  arrived  or  which  are  laid  down  in  his 
inherited  and  accepted  creed. 

d)  The  grammatico-historical  method. — The  only  method 
which  is  consistent  with  a  proper  conception  of  interpretation 
is  the  so-called  grammatico-historical  method,  which  endeavors, 
by  the  use  of  historical  data  and  the  methods  of  historical 
investigation,  to  ascertain  the  thought  which  the  writer  or 
speaker  had  in  mind  when  he  wrote  or  spoke.  This  method, 
though  demanding  the  diligent  use  of  grammar  and  lexicon, 
does  not  reduce  interpretation  to  a  mere  matter  of  the  use  of 
these  instruments,  but  calls  for  the  restoration  of  the  whole 
thought-world  in  which  the  writer  or  speaker  to  be  interpreted 
lived  and  the  most  complete  and  systematic  devotion  of  one's 
energy  to  the  task  of  rediscovering  his  thought. 

The  question  which  it  asks  is,  ''What  did  the  writer  think 
when  he  wrote  these  words?''  It  entirely  separates  the 
criticism  of  the  results  of  interpretation  from  the  interpretative 
process  itself.  It  asks  not  what  is  true  philosophically  or 
theologically,  but  what  was  that  experience  in  the  mind  of  the 
writer  of  which  the  language  is  the  outward  expression.  By 
its  very  nature  it  demands  of  the  interpreter  a  knowledge  of 
the  thought-environment  in  which  the  book  to  be  interpreted 
was  produced  and  of  the  usages  of  the  language  in  which  it  is 
written,  and  therefore  calls  for  those  studies  preliminary  to 
interpretation  which  are  discussed  in  the  paragraphs  next 
following. 

2.  The  environment  of  early  Christianity. — No  historic 
movement  takes  place  as  an  isolated  phenomenon,  but  always 
has  its  antecedents  and  surroundings  which  condition  its 
character  and  direction,  and  no  such  movement  can  be  under- 
stood without  some  knowledge  of  its  historic  setting.     Every 


178         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

piece  or  body  of  literature  is  the  product  and  expression  of  the 
life  of  a  people  or  the  experience  of  an  individual,  and  no 
literature  can  be  interpreted  adequately  without  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  life  in  the  midst  of  which  it  was  produced. 

A  study  of  the  actual  processes  of  expression  and  interpre- 
tation in  everyday  hfe  and  the  more  intensive  prosecution  of 
the  task  of  interpreting  ancient  literature  have  made  it 
increasingly  clear  that  no  literature  can  be  adequately  inter- 
preted with  lexicon  and  grammar  only.  To  read  the  First 
Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Thessalonians  as  an  undated  piece  of 
literature  or  as  a  document  written  by  a  man  of  today  to  men 
of  today  is  to  touch  only  on  the  high  spots  of  its  meaning. 
To  read  it  as  a  part  of  an  actual  correspondence  between 
people  of  the  first  century  with  the  benefit  of  a  knowledge 
of  the  life  of  that  period  is  to  look  through  an  open  window 
into  an  intensely  interesting  human  situation.  To  read  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew  ignorant  of  the  questions  which  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  "first  century  were  at  issue  between  Jews 
and  Christians  and  between  Jewish  and  gentile  Christians 
is  not  necessarily  to  fail  to  grasp  the  great  central  elements 
of  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  but  it  is  inevitably  to  miss  the  exact 
thought  and  purpose  of  the  book  and  seriously  to  misinterpret 
the  writer's  state  of  mind  and  his  central  contention. 

But  to  reproduce  the  life,  especially  the  intellectual  and 
religious  life,  of  that  far-away  period  is  obviously  a  difficult 
task.  It  is  to  this  task  that  some  of  the  ablest  scholars  of  the 
last  and  of  the  present  generation  have  devoted  themselves 
most  diligently.  Such  writers  as  Schiirer  and  Bousset  have 
by  their  patient  and  thorough  investigations  put  us  in  fuller 
possession  of  the  thought  and  religious  life  of  the  Jewish  people 
in  the  New  Testament  period  than  the  men  of  the  Christian 
church  have  ever  been  in  any  preceding  age.  And  the  investi- 
gations, which  have  long  been  in  progress  and  are  still  far  from 
complete,  into  the  life  and  thinking  of  the  people  among  whom 
Paul  did  his  work  are  gradually  giving  us  a  truer  and  deeper 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  179 

insight  than  we  have  ever  before  had,  not  only  into  the  apostle's 
thought,  but  into  the  whole  life  of  the  early  church  and  the  real 
character  and  significance  of  the  early  Christian  movement. 
Eventually  these  studies  promise  to  enable  us  to  read  the 
literature  of  that  period  with  some  measure,  at  least,  of  that 
sympathetic  understanding  and  quick  intelligence  with  which 
it  was  read  by  most  educated  and  many  uneducated  men  of 
the  first  century. 

The  full  discussion  of  the  subject  belongs  to  another  part 
of  this  volume  (see  chap.  V).  But  to  omit  all  mention  of  it 
at  this  point  would  be  to  set  the  interpretative  process  itself  in 
a  false  light. 

Literature. — -On  the  Jewish  literature,  thought,  and  environment  see 

E.  Schiirer,  Geschichte  dcsjiidischcn  Volks  im  Zeitalter  Jesu  Ckristi,  4th  ed. 
(Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1901-9),  and  English  translation  of  the  second  edition; 
History  of  the  Jewish  People  in  New  Testament  Times,  5  vols.  (New  York: 
Scribner,  1891);  Oskar  Holtzmann,  N eutestamentliche  Zeitgeschichte 
(Tubingen:  JVIohr,  1906);  S.  Mathews,  History  of  New  Testament  Times 
in  Palestine,  2d  ed.  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1910);  E.  Kautzsch 
(editor),  Die  Apocryphen  und  Pseudepigraphcn  des  Alien  Testaments, 
2  vols.  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1900);  R.  H.  Charles,  The  Apocrypha 
and  Pseudepigrapha  of  the  Old  Testament,  2  vols.  (Oxford:  Clarendon 
Press,  1913J ;  Josephus,  Works,  edited  in  the  original  by  Niese,  7  vols. 
(Berlin:  Weidmann,  1895;  English  translation  by  Whiston,  various 
editions;  revised  by  Shilleto,  5  vols.  [London:  Bell,  1889-90]).  Philo, 
Works  edited  in  the  original  by  Cohn  and  Wendland,  Vols.  I-VI, 
ready  (Berlin:  Reimer,  1896-;  English  translation  by  Yonge,  4  vols. 
[London:   Bohn,  1854-55]). 

On    the    non-Jewish     literature,    thought,    and    environment    see 

F.  Cumont,  Oriental  Religions  in  Roman  Paganism  (Chicago:  Open 
Court  Publishing  Co.,  191 1);  T.  R.  Glover,  The  Conflict  of  Religions 
within  the  Roman  Empire  (London:  Methuen,  1909);  Zeller,  Stoics, 
Epicureans  and  Sceptics;  English  translation  by  O.  J.  Reichel,  revised 
ed.  (London:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1892);  E.  V.  Arnold,  Roman 
Stoicism  (Cambridge:  University  Press,  191 1);  R.  D.  Hicks,  Stoic  and 
Epicurean  (New  York:  Scribner,  1910);  S.  J.  Case,  Evolution  of  Early 
Christianity  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  19 14)  (see 
especially  the  bibliographical  notes  on  chaps,  vii-ix). 


i8o         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

3.  The  discovery  of  the  occasion  and  purpose  of  the 
several  books. — The  reproduction  of  the  general  situation  in 
the  midst  of  which  the  New  Testament  books  were  produced 
is,  as  we  have  seen,  invaluable  and  indispensable  to  the  student 
of  those  books.  But  it  /alls  short  of  preparing  him  for  the 
full  understanding  of  them.  For  the  intelligent  reading  of 
these  books,  that  is,  for  their  interpretation,  it  is  requisite 
that  one  restore,  as  fully  as  possible,  the  precise  occasion  and 
set  of  circumstances  out  of  which  the  book  arose. 

A  letter,  picked  up  on  the  street,  may  easily  be  an  absolute 
enigma  when  first  read,  but  by  the  identification  of  its  writer 
and  the  discovery  of  its  occasion  and  purpose  may  become  so 
full  of  meaning  as  to  be  the  basis  of  a  life-and-death  decision 
by  a  court.  So  a  letter  of  Paul's,  written  to  a  group  of 
Christians  in  the  first  century,  read  without  knowledge  of 
the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  written,  may  seem  like 
a  dull  essay  on  eschatology  or  a  dry  treatise  on  election  and 
justification.  But  if  it  is  possible  for  us  to  reproduce  the 
situation  which  gave  rise  to  it,  out  of  which  it  sprung,  and  in 
which  it  played  a  part,  it  may  become  to  us  an  intensely 
interesting  and  luminous  reflection  of  the  life  of  the  church 
in  the  days  of  the  apostles. 

Early  Christian  writings. — The  religious  movement  which 
began  with  the  preaching  of  Jesus  in  Galilee  very  soon 
found  expression  in  writing.  This  was  more  true  of  Chris- 
tianity than  of  any  contemporary  rehgious  movement  of 
which  we  know.  The  literature,  if  we  may  call  it  by  that 
name,  at  first  consisted  of  personal  letters  called  forth  by  a 
special  situation  and  designed  to  meet  an  immediate  need, 
and  nothing  more.  More  conscious  literary  works  presently 
arose — gospels,  prophecies,  histories,  sermons — -and  books 
were  written  and  put  in  circulation.  These  books  soon  fell 
into  groups,  and  some  of  these  groups  were  at  length  gathered 
up  into  the  collection  known  to  us  as  the  New  Testament. 
But  in  order  to  understand  them  we  must  take  them  up 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  i8i 

individually  and  inquire  what  called  them  forth,  who  wrote 
them,  why  and  for  whom  they  were  written.  This  is  the 
first  step  toward  the  real  understanding  of  the  contents  of 
every  such  ancient  work. 

Possible  groupings  of  them. — The  books  of  the  New 
Testament  may  be  conveniently  grouped  about  four  impor- 
tant historical  points:  the  gentile  mission,  which  gave  rise 
to  the  letters  of  Paul  and  afterward  formed  the  subject  of 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles;  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  about 
which  the  Gospels  of  Mark,  Matthew,  and  Luke  gather; 
the  persecution  by  Domitian,  which  called  forth  the  Reve- 
lation, First  Peter,  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews;  and 
finally  the  rise  of  the  docetic  and  gnostic  sects,  which  con- 
stitutes the  background  of  the  Gospel  of  John  and  the  minor 
epistles. 

From  another  point  of  view  the  New  Testament  books 
may  be  divided  according  to  the  literary  types  to  which  they 
belong.  Some  are  personal  letters,  some  are  epistles — ^that  is, 
more  formal  discussions  of  a  general  theme,  put  in  epistolary 
form  and  published  for  a  wide  circle.  Some  are  gospels,  a 
type  of  literature  very  near  biography  but  closer  still  to  the 
Elijah  and  Elisha  cycles  in  the  Books  of  Kings.  One,  the 
Acts,  is  a  historical  book;  one,  James,  is  a  sermon;  and  one, 
the  Revelation,  is  the  prophecy  of  a  Christian  prophet.  The 
type  of  literature  to  which  each  book  belongs  is  a  matter  of 
much  importance  in  the  study  and  understanding  of  it. 

There  is,  however,  a  more  practical  division  of  the  New 
Testament  writings.  It  is  suggested  in  part  by  literary  and 
in  part  by  historical  considerations.  The  letters  of  Paul 
constitute  one  natural  group,  and  the  early  gospels  and  Acts 
a  second.  The  writings  relating  to  Domitian's  persecution 
make  a  third,  and  the  Gospel  and  Epistles  of  John  a 
fourth.  There  remain  the  other  general  epistles,  James, 
Jude,  and  II  Peter.  We  may  approach  these  groups  in  this 
order. 


i82         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  letters  of  Paul. — -The  ancients  who  compiled  our 
New  Testament  ascribed  fourteen  letters  to  Paul.  The  his- 
torical student  of  the  New  Testament  has  to  satisfy  himself  as 
to  whether  all  or  any  of  these  are  indeed  from  his  hand,  for 
in  the  interpretation  of  them  much  depends  upon  a  sound  view 
of  their  authorship.  In  the  effort  to  arrive  at  the  facts  in 
such  a  study  we  have  two  kinds  of  materials  to  build  upon, 
the  testimony  of  each  letter  as  to  itself  and  the  statements  of 
ancient  writers  about  it.  Neither  of  these  may  be  neglected. 
It  is  indispensable  that  every  scrap  of  ancient  testimony  be 
taken  account  of,  and  each  letter  must  be  minutely  examined 
for  every  ray  of  light  it  can  throw  upon  its  writer  and  his 
purpose.  The  testimony  the  letter  bears  to  its  own  author- 
ship and  purpose  is  called  internal  evidence,  the  testimony 
borne  by  ancient  writers  is  called  external  evidence,  or  tra- 
dition. 

Hebrews  not  by  Paul. — If  we  examine  the  fourteen  letters 
which  have  borne  the  name  of  Paul  from  these  two  points  of 
view,  it  is  at  once  clear  that  Hebrews  is  much  less  entitled 
to  be  called  a  letter  of  his  than  are  the  other  thirteen.  It  is 
anonymous,  and  so  the  internal  evidence  is  wanting  at  the 
most  important  point.  Moreover,  when  closely  examined 
Hebrews  shows  differences  from  the  remaining  letters  so 
marked  in  language,  style,  and  ideas  that  most  scholars  hold 
that  it  cannot  have  been  the  work  of  Paul.  Nor  is  the  voice 
of  tradition  by  any  means  unanimous.  Tertullian  thought 
it  was  the  work  of  Barnabas  and  did  not  regard  it  as  Scrip- 
ture, and  although  Hebrews  is  first  reflected  in  Roman 
writings,  the  Christian  writers  of  Rome  and  the  West  did  not 
accept  it  as  Paul's  until  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century.  In 
fact,  the  assignment  of  Hebrews  to  Paul  can  be  definitely 
traced  back  to  one  man,  for  the  first  writer  to  state  it  is 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  and  he  says  that  he  learned  it  from 
the  Blessed  Presbyter,  which  is  his  way  of  referring  to  his 
teacher  Pantaenus. 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  183 

The  Pastoral  Letters. — If  we  apply  these  same  instru- 
ments of  inquiry  to  the  other  letters  bearing  the  name  of  Paul, 
the  letters  to  Timothy  and  Titus  at  once  stand  out  as  a  dis- 
tinct group,  from  the  point  of  view  of  both  internal  testimony 
and  tradition.  These  Pastoral  Epistles,  as  they  are  called, 
definitely  claim  Paul  as  their  author,  and  to  this  extent 
satisfy  the  requirement  of  internal  evidence.  But  when 
examined  more  narrowly  they  disclose  a  style  and  interest  and 
a  type  of  thought  very  different  from  that  of  Paul  as  we  know 
him  through  his  leading  letters,  and  the  historical  situations 
that  gleam  through  them  are  clearly  later  than  the  Kfe  of 
Paul.  This  suspicion  of  the  Pastoral  Letters,  suggested 
by  their  own  indirect  internal  testimony,  is  confirmed  by  a 
study  of  tradition  about  them.  The  earliest  list  of  Paul's 
letters  of  which  we  know  definitely,  that  of  Marcion  of 
Pontus,  made  about  140-50  a.d.,  does  not  include  them. 
But  they  were  accepted  by  Irenaeus  about  180-85  ^s  written 
by  Paul  and  as  parts  of  Christian  Scripture. 

But  we  may  not  immediately  conclude  that  these  three 
letters  have  no  connection  with  Paul  but  were  wholly  com- 
posed under  his  name  at  a  later  time.  We  must  consider  the 
possibility  that  short  genuine  letters  of  his  to  Timothy  and 
Titus  were  expanded  into  these  letters  as  we  know  them,  in 
order  to  claim  the  authority  of  Paul  for  much-needed  regula- 
tions as  to  church  organization  and  management.  This 
possibility  cannot  be  denied,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  all 
attempts  to  determine  what  genuinely  Pauline  parts  are  pre- 
served in  these  letters  have  proved  unconvincing.  More- 
over, the  letters,  which  fit  so  poorly  into  what  we  know  of 
Paul's  life  and  work  and  thought,  are  readily  understood  if  set 
in  the  early  years  of  the  second  century  when  just  the  questions 
with  which  they  deal  were,  as  other  documents  show,  deeply 
concerning  the  churches.  In  that  age,  too,  men  did  not 
scruple  to  write  letters,  revelations,  even  gospels,  in  the  name 
of  other  apostles,  for  example,  Peter;  and  while  it  would  have 


1 84         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

been  difficult  to  put  into  circulation  a  letter  purporting  to  be 
from  Paul  to  a  well-known  and  still  active  church,  it  would 
have  been  easy  to  put  forth  such  letters  addressed  to  indi- 
viduals long  dead. 

Colossians  and  Ephesians. — The  remaining  ten  letters 
stood  in  the  earhest  list  of  Paul's  writings  of  which  we  have 
definite  knowledge,  the  canon  of  Marcion.  The  evidence 
of  tradition  for  these  ten  is  therefore  much  stronger  than 
for  the  three  just  discussed.  But  considerations  of  internal 
evidence,  i.e.,  the  testimony  of  the  letters  themselves,  make  it 
necessary  to  scrutinize  the  authenticity  of  some  of  these 
letters  very  closely.  Colossians  and  Ephesians  when  com- 
pared prove  to  resemble  each  other  in  so  many  details  of 
expression,  and  to  present  a  phase  of  thought  so  different 
from  anything  in  Paul's  major  letters,  as  to  throw  serious 
doubt  upon  their  authenticity.  Some  scholars  explain  this 
as  due  to  the  fact  that  when  Paul  wrote  Colossians  the  prac- 
tical and  doctrinal  errors  that  had  appeared  at  Colossae  had 
given  his  mind  a  new  direction,  and  that  he  wrote  at  the  same 
time  a  general  letter  (Ephesians)  to  the  neighboring  churches 
in  which  he  dealt  with  the  same  general  situation  in  much  the 
same  terms.  Others  have  held  that  Colossians  is  indeed  a 
work  of  Paul  but  that  Ephesians  is  from  the  hand  of  a  later 
follower  of  his  who  made  Colossians  the  basis  for  his  work. 
Others  seek  to  solve  the  problem  by  the  theory  that  an  original 
letter  to  the  Colossians,  now  lost,  was  expanded  into  the  two 
epistles  that  we  have.  The  relation  of  Ephesians  and  Colos- 
sians and  the  genuineness  of  these  letters  form  one  of  the 
present  problems  of  the  Pauline  literature. 

Ephesians  presents  a  further  problem  in  the  matter  of  its 
original  destination.  To  whom  was  it  written  ?  Paul  can 
hardly  have  sent  it  to  the  Ephesians,  for  it  is  wholly  without 
personal  touches,  and  some  things  in  it  suggest  that  it  was 
addressed  to  people  who  did  not -know  Paul  personally,  but 
only   by   reputation    (3:2).     In   Marcion's  list   it  went  by 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  185 

the  name  of  Laodiceans  and  the  oldest  manuscripts,  while 
they  give  its  title  as  "To  Ephesians,"  omit  the  words  ''in 
Ephesus"  from  the  first  verse.  The  historical  student  has 
to  inquire  whether  Ephesians  is  a  circular  letter  sent  to 
Ephesus  among  other  places,  or  is  the  "letter  from  Laodicea" 
mentioned  in  Colossians  (4:16),  and  in  this  latter  case  how 
it  came  to  be  called  "To  Ephesians."  The  writer  of  the 
Revelation  (3:16),  Marcion,  and  Basil  of  Caesarea  throw 
some  light  upon  this  question. 

//  Thessalonians. — ^One  other  letter  which  has  come 
down  to  us  under  the  name  of  Paul  calls  for  careful  investiga- 
tion in  the  matter  of  its  authenticity.  II  Thessalonians 
resembles  I  Thessalonians  very  much  as  Ephesians  does 
Colossians.  In  general  outline  and  in  many  details  of  expres- 
sion the  two  letters  to  Thessalonica  agree.  How  did  a 
writer  so  original  and  fertile-minded  as  Paul  come  to  repeat 
himself  in  this  way  ?  Did  he  hav^  a  letter  book,  and  before 
writing  II  Thessalonians  refer  to  a  copy  of  I  Thessalonians 
which  he  had  retained  ?  Or  did  he  write  the  two  letters  at 
the  same  time,  sending  one  to  the  Greek  and  the  other  to  the 
Jewish-Christian  body  at  Thessalonica?  To  these  psycho- 
logical doubts  about  II  Thessalonians  is  added  an  eschato- 
logical  one.  The  Lord's  Day,  it  is  alleged,  is  described  in 
the  first  letter  as  coming  without  warning,  as  a  thief  in  the 
night,  but  in  the  second  a  series  of  premonitory  events  is, 
predicted.  These  difficulties  must  be  fairly  dealt  with 
before  II  Thessalonians  can  be  confidently  accepted  as  a  letter 
of  Paul's. 

The  seven  undisputed  letters. — Of  the  fourteen  letters 
assigned  by  tradition  to  Paul,  there  remain  seven  with  refer- 
ence to  which  internal  evidence  and  tradition  may  fairly  be 
said  to  agree.  These  are  I  Thessalonians,  Galatians,  I  and  II 
Corinthians,  Romans,  Philippians,  and  Philemon.  They  were 
probably  all  written  between  50  and  63  a.d.,  and  in  the 
order  named  above.     Their  date  and  order  must  of  course 


1 86        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

be  determined  if  their  place  in  Paul's  work  and  life  is  to  be 
understood,  and  in  this  and  other  matters  each  presents  its 
own  special  problems. 

Galatians. — In  respect  to  Galatians,  its  destination  is  a 
problem  of  some  interest,  both  for  its  own  sake  and  in  con- 
nection with  the  time  of  its  writing.  For  if  the  Galatia  of 
which  Paul  spoke  was  the  Phrygian  and  Lycaonian  region  of 
the  province  of  Galatia  and  not  ethnographical  Galatia  in 
north-central  Asia  Minor,  Paul's  visit  to  it  and  the  subse- 
quent composition  of  the  letter  fall  earlier  in  his  career  than 
most  students  of  the  letter  have  supposed. 

Composite  letters:  Romans,  II  Corinthians,  and  Philip- 
pians. — A  different  tjrpe  of  problem  is  presented  by  Romans, 
II  Corinthians,  and  Philippians.  It  is  that  of  integrity: 
are  these  letters  units,  or  is  each  of  them  made  up  of  two 
or  even  three  letters  combined?  At  the  end  of  Romans 
stands  a  chapter  of  salutations  in  which  Paul  shows  a  wide 
acquaintance,  not  only  with  the  personnel  of  the  house  congre- 
gations at  Rome,  which  he  had  never  visited,  but  even  with 
the  domestic  groupings  of  these  individuals.  This  and  other 
considerations  make  it  probable  that  the  sixteenth  chapter 
of  Romans  was  originally  a  letter  to  Ephesus  which  was 
appended  to  Romans  when  the  first  considerable  collection 
of  Paul's  letters  was  made,  very  likely  at  Ephesus  before  the 
end  of  the  first  century. 

The  striking  contrast  between  the  two  parts  of  II  Corinthi- 
ans raises  a  similar  problem.  The  opening  chapters  say  much 
of  comfort  and  reconciliation.  The  closing  chapters,  10-13, 
are  a  vehement  invective  against  Paul's  critics  at  Corinth.  It 
is  difficult  to  explain  this  except  on  the  theory  that  the  closing 
chapters  are  from  the  painful  letter  of  rebuke  and  correction 
mentioned  in  II  Cor.  2:4  and  7:8,  which  has  usually  been 
regarded  as  lost.  If  this  be  true,  we  possess  three  of  the  four 
letters  Paul  is  known  to  have  written  to  Corinth — the  second, 
fourth,  and  third.     The  case  for  the  analysis  of  II  Corinthians 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  187 

is  stronger  than  that  for  the  analysis  of  Romans  in  this  respect, 
that  the  new  letter  disclosed  by  the  analysis  is  one  of  which  we 
have  long  known  from  statements  in  II  Corinthians  itself. 

The  letter  to  the  Philippians  is  another  exception  to  the 
usual  orderliness  of  Paul's  letters.  Its  course  of  thought  is 
unsystematic  and  irregular.  The  violent  break  at  3 : 2  pre- 
sents great  difficulty  to  all  students  of  the  letter.  Now,  Paul 
must  have  written  to  Philippi  at  least  five  times;  for  we 
know  from  his  own  statements  that  the  Philippians  had  sent 
him  money  or  supplies  on  four  occasions,  and  the  return  of 
Epaphroditus  to  Philippi  evidently  called  forth  a  letter  from 
Paul.  Is  our  Philippians  this  last  letter  only,  or  are  two 
or  even  three  of  Paul's  five  letters  to  the  Philippians  united 
in  our  letter  ?  The  probability  that  the  latter  is  the  case  may 
be  easily  tested  by  reading  Phil.  3:2^ — 4:20  as  a  letter  writ- 
ten to  acknowledge  the  Philippians'  present  sent  through 
Epaphroditus  (Paul's  fourth  letter  to  Philippi),  and  1:1 — • 
3:1;  4:21-23  as  Paul's  fifth  letter  to  the  Philippians,  sent 
by  Epaphroditus  when  he  returned  to  Philippi  after  his  illness 
at  Rome.  Those  who  find  three  letters  in  our  Philippians 
divide  3:2 — 4:9  from  4:10-20,  making  this  last  the  final 
letter  and  placing  3 : 2 — 4 : 9  earlier  in  the  correspondence. 
While  the  analysis  of  Philippians  is  less  convincing  than  is  that 
of  Romans  and  II  Corinthians,  it  deserves  serious  considera- 
tion, especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Polycarp  early  in  the 
second  century  speaks  of  Paul's  "letters"  to  the  Philippians 
and  advises  the  Philippians  to  consult  them. 

The  editing  of  the  Pauline  letters. — The  question  of  the 
editorial  work  in  the  Pauline  letters  is  involved  with  that  of 
the  earliest  collection  of  them,  and  that  properly  belongs  to 
the  history  of  the  canon.  It  is  enough  here  to  say  that  many 
things  point  to  Ephesus  as  the  place  of  the  making  of  that 
collection,  and  the  time  was  probably  well  within  the  first 
century.  The  combining  of  two  or  three  letters  into  a  single 
one  was  very  probably  a  part  of  the  editorial  work  incident 


1 88        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

to  this  larger  task  of  putting  in  circulation  a  collection  of 
Paul's  letters  for  Christian  use. 

The  specific  occasion  of  the  Pauline  letters. — But  it  ought 
not  to  be  inferred  from  the  foregoing  list  of  doubts  and 
questions  concerning  the  Pauline  authorship  or  the  integrity 
of  the  several  letters  ascribed  to  Paul  in  the  New  Testament 
that  these  are  the  only  questions  or  the  most  hnportant  ones 
with  which  we  have  to  deal  in  this  part  of  our  subject.  In  fact, 
they  are  all  preliminary  to  discovering  under  what  circum- 
stances and  to  meet  what  situation  each  of  these  letters,  or 
their  several  component  letters,  were  produced.  It  is  the 
answer  to  this  question,  largely  to  be  discovered  from  the 
internal  evidence  of  the  letter  itself,  or  from  this,  combined 
with  the  evidence  of  other  letters  and  the  Book  of  Acts,  that 
will  enable  us  to  set  each  writing  in  its  proper  place  in  the  his- 
tory, and  so  help  us  to  understand  its  purpose  and  its  course 
of  thought.  To  decide  that  a  letter  ascribed  to  Paul  is  made 
up  of  two  or  more  letters  of  his,  or  is  not  his  at  all,  is  not  to 
deprive  it  of  interest  or  value  for  us,  but  only  requires  that  we 
date  it  and  place  it  where  it  really  belongs.  To  do  this  may 
increase  both  its  interest  and  its  value. 

To  decide,  or  even  to  discuss  at  length,  the  date,  place, 
and  occasion  of  each  of  the  letters  named  above  would  require 
more  space  than  can  be  given  in  this  book.  But  it  is  a  very 
important  part  of  the  task  of  the  student  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. In  undertaking  it  he  must  make  the  fullest  possible 
use  of  the  evidence  afforded  by  the  books  themselves,  of 
ancient  external  evidence,  and  of  the  results  of  modern  study. 
To  the  more  thorough  study  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment from  this  point  of  view  we  owe  no  small  part  of  the 
progress  of  the  last  century  in  the  understanding  of  their 
thought  and  of  the  origin  of  Christianity, 

The  earliest  gospels. — The  letters  of  Paul  were  written 
to  serve  special  immediate  needs  of  individuals,  churches, 
or  groups  of  churches.     They  were  not  intended  as  permanent 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  1S9 

contributions  to  literature.  The  earliest  Christians  had 
no  thought  of  producing  a  religious  literature;  they  were 
wholly  concerned  with  an  inward  spiritual  experience  and  the 
expectation  of  the  early  return  of  Jesus  to  the  earth  to  usher 
in  the  messianic  era.  They  were  loyal  to  what  the  spirit  of 
Jesus  said  to  their  hearts  and  to  what  Jesus  in  his  earthly 
ministry  had  taught.  This  last  along  with  some  brief  account 
of  Jesus'  ministry  and  doings  Christians  learned  from  the  oral 
instruction  of  the  missionaries  through  whom  they  had  been 
converted.  This  was  the  way  in  which  the  Corinthians, 
for  example,  learned  of  the  Lord's  Supper  and  the  Resur- 
rection. Paul  and  every  successful  missionary  taught  his 
converts  the  ''traditions,"  as  Paul  calls  them,  I  Cor.  11:2,  23; 
15:3.  In  this  way  some  short  compend  of  the  words  and 
deeds  of  Jesus  was  known  among  the  churches,  and  there  was 
at  first  no  thought  of  writing  an  account  of  his  teaching  or 
ministry,  much  less  his  hfe. 

The  Synoptic  Gospels. — Of  the  score  of  gospels  which 
were  written  by  200  a.d.  the  four  gospels  which  are  included 
in  the  New  Testament  contain  probably  the  most  valuable 
and  trustworthy  material.  Three  of  these  four  resemble 
one  another  so  strikingly  in  chronology,  order  of  events,  and 
details  of  expression  that  students  have  long  been  accustomed 
to  group  them  together  under  the  name  Synoptic  Gospels. 
Their  resemblances  are  so  close  as  to  prove  that  these  gospels 
are  dependent  on  one  another  or  on  some  common  documentary 
source.  Along  with  these  resemblances  they  exhibit  certain 
striking  differences  which  greatly  complicate  the  problem 
of  their  relationship.  It  is  this  combination  of  agreement 
and  difference  that  gives  rise  to  what  is  called  the  synoptic 
problem. 

The  minute  comparison  of  the  Gospels  of  Matthew,  Mark, 
and  Luke,  section  by  section  and  even  phrase  by  phrase, 
clearly  shows  that  the  writers  of  Matthew  and  Luke  had  the 
Gospel  of  Mark  and  made  large  use  of  it  in  producing  their 


igo        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

gospels.  This  is  especially  true  of  Matthew,  into  which  fifteen- 
sixteenths  of  the  verses  of  Mark  have  been  taken  over. 
The  question  arises  whether  Mark  was  known  to  these  evangel- 
ists in  the  form  in  which  we  have  it  or  in  some  more  primitive 
form,  the  so-called  original  Mark.  It  is  reasonably  clear 
that  when  the  writer  of  Matthew  used  Mark  it  had  not  lost 
its  original  conclusion,  but  that  in  other  respects  it  was  known 
to  him  in  substantially  the  form  in  which  it  is  known  to  us. 

Origin  of  Mark. — Tradition  explains  the  origin  of  the 
Gospel  of  Mark  as  due  to  the  effort  of  Mark  to  preserve  for 
the  Roman  church  and  other  churches  Peter's  recollections 
of  the  ministry  and  words  of  Jesus  as  Mark  had  learned  them 
in  his  capacity  of  interpreter  to  Peter  in  Peter's  latter  days. 
The  idea  that  Peter  was  the  authority  for  a  gospel  record  was 
familiar  in  the  first  half  of  the  second  century,  as  Papias, 
Justin,  and  the  II  Peter  (1:15)  indicate.  It  seems  probable, 
therefore,  that  Mark  was  written  soon  after  the  death  of 
Peter,  which  occurred  in  64  a.d.  If  we  examine  the  Gospel  of 
Mark  with  reference  to  the  probability  of  such  an  origin,  it 
proves  to  exhibit  such  an  emphasis  upon  the  fall  of  Jerusalem 
as  we  should  expect  in  the  years  of  the  Jewish  War,  66-70  a.d., 
and  its  generally  primitive  character  and  freedom  from  edi- 
torial retouching  make  it  very  Hkely  that  it  was  composed 
during  the  Jewish  War  much  in  the  way  Papias  describes. 
There  is  little  question  that  Mark's  collection  of  Peter's 
recollections  is  embodied  in  our  Mark.  The  chief  critical 
question  is  whether  the  two  documents  are  identical  or 
the  recollections  only  served  as  one  source  toward  the  com- 
position of  our  Mark.  But  the  fact  that  our  Mark  is  so 
completely  taken  over  into  Matthew  is  opposed  to  this  latter 
alternative,  and  certain  obscurities  and  ambiguities  in  Mark's 
narrative  confirm  the  impression  that  it  is  not  the  work  of  an 
editorial  reviser. 

There  is  indeed  little  to  set  against  the  testimony  of 
tradition  that  Mark  wrote  this  earliest  of  gospels.     The  tra- 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  191 

ditional  account  of  its  purposfe,  too,  fits  very  well  with  the 
character  of  the  work.  While  the  writer  believes  Jesus  to  be 
the  Messiah,  he  does  not  put  that  statement  into  the  mouth 
of  Jesus,  but  reports  him  as  designating  himself  the  Son  of 
Man.  The  writer  seems  more  concerned  to  reproduce  faith- 
fully the  materials  at  his  disposal  than  to  estabhsh  a  theo- 
logical interpretation  of  Jesus.  His  narrative,  while  it  makes 
high  claims  for  Jesus,  includes  many  homely  touches  which 
later  evangelists  preferred  to  leave  out.  It  is,  in  short,  an 
informal  and  unambitious  narrative,  with  no  strongly  defined 
apologetic  purpose  such  as  the  Gospels  of  Matthew  and  John 
so  clearly  show. 

Two-document  theory. — Synoptic  study  has  shown  that 
Matthew  and  Luke  are  based  upon  Mark.  But  the  more 
difficult  part  of  the  synoptic  problem  remains.  How  shall 
we  explain  the  occurrence  in  Matthew  and  Luke  of  common 
material  not  derivable  from  Mark  ?  The  obvious  answer  is, 
both  derived  it  from  a  second  source  possessed  by  both.  This 
second  common  source  was  for  a  long  time  identified  with  the 
Logia  or  Sayings  of  Jesus  composed,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  Papias,  by  the  apostle  Matthew  in  the  Aramaic  language. 
But  the  fact  that  that  document  is  described  as  existing  in 
Aramaic  while  the  resemblances  it  would  have  to  explain  are 
often  in  the  details  of  Greek  expression,  and  the  further  fact 
that  it  is  said  to  have  consisted  of  sayings  while  the  resem- 
blances which  the  theory  requires  it  to  explain  are  often  in 
narrative,  have  led  most  synoptic  scholars  in  recent  years  to 
give  up  the  effort  to  identify  the  second  source  of  Matthew 
and  Luke  with  the  Logia  of  Matthew. 

The  two-document  theory,  as  it  is  called,  suffers  decidedly 
when  its  second  document  ceases  to  be  identified  with  the 
Logia,  and  becomes  a  mere  critical  conjecture,  and  the 
question  arises.  Why  is  it  necessary  to  explain  the  non- 
Markan  resemblances  of  Matthew  and  Luke  by  one  con- 
jectural document  instead  of  more  ?     The  answer  is  at  once 


192         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

made,  because  it  is  reasonable  to  postulate  no  more  con- 
jectural documents  than  are  required  to  account  for  the  facts. 
But  the  theory  necessitates  assigning  to  one  document  ma- 
terial of  widely  different  types  and  interests,  and  it  is  a  some- 
what striking  fact  that  the  non-Markan  material  shared  by 
Matthew  and  Luke,  while  scattered  all  through  Matthew, 
is  in  Luke  for  the  most  part  confined  to  two  considerable 
sections.  These  sections  are  further  remarkable  for  the 
almost  total  absence  from  them  of  any  Markan  material,  and 
they  have  long  been  spoken  of  by  students  of  Luke  as  the 
Small  and  the  Great  Interpolations,  because  they  may  be 
viewed  as  bodies  of  material  interpolated  by  Luke  in  the 
text  of  Mark,  which  he  was  clearly  making  the  basis  of  his 
gospel.  These  sections,  Luke  6:20 — ^8:3  and  9:51 — ^18:14, 
may  very  probably  have  been  documents  which  Luke  char- 
acteristically inserted  en  bloc  while  Matthew,  with  his  ana- 
lytical and  topical  way  of  working,  took  from  them  what  he 
wished  to  use  and  placed  it  where  he  saw  fit.  To  the  former 
of  these  source-sections  should  probably  be  assigned  also 
Luke  3:7-15,  17,  18;  4:26-30;  5:1-11;  and  to  the  latter 
19: 1-28. 

Three-document  theory. — This  would  explain  the  resem- 
blances of  Matthew  and  Luke  by  a  three-document  theory, 
that  is,  by  the  use  by  both  of  three  documents — Mark,  and 
the  two  just  outHned.  The  writers  of  Matthew  and  Luke 
had  each  of  them,  in  addition  to  these,  special  sources,  per- 
haps documentary.  Each  had  his  own  peculiar  source  for 
his  account  of  the  infancy  of  Jesus,  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  the  writer  of  Matthew  may  have  had  the  Sayings  of 
Matthew,  and  so  the  name  of  that  apostle  came  to  be  con- 
nected with  that  gospel. 

Authorship  of  Matthew  and  Luke. — This  introduces  the 
question  of  the  authorship  of  these  gospels.  Of  the  author 
of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  nothing  is  definitely  known. 
The  statements  of  ancient  writers  are  probably  due  to  the 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  193 

incorporation  into  our  Matthew  of  the  Sayings  of  Matthew 
above  referred  to.  The  gospel  itself  is  anonymous  and  gives 
no  definite  evidence  as  to  its  writer.  If  it  were  the  work  of  an 
apostle  or  any  other  eyewitness,  it  is  very  difficult  to  under- 
stand its  dependence  upon  Mark.  Its  earliest  name  seems 
to  have  been  simply  "The  Gospel,"  and  it  is  possible  that  it 
was  the  first  work  of  Christian  literature  to  go  by  this 
name.  The  Gospel  of  Luke,  on  the  other  hand,  while  it  no- 
where mentions  its  author  by  name,  is  not  quite  anonymous 
since  the  individual  to  whom  it  was  addressed  or  dedicated 
would  naturally  have  known  who  was  addressing  him  in  the 
preface.  Nor  is  there  in  this  case  any  reason  to  doubt  that 
such  an  author  as  Paul's  friend  Luke  might  very  naturally 
have  used  written  sources  and  oral  tradition  in  making  up  his 
narrative.  There  is,  in  short,  much  more  to  be  said  for  the 
Lukan  authorship  of  the  Gospel  of  Luke  than  for  the  assign- 
ment of  apostohc  authorship  to  Matthew.  The  difficulties 
with  it  will  be  pointed  out  in  connection  with  its  sequel,  the 
Acts. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Gospel  of  Mark  was  written  in  the 
effort  to  preserve  the  recollections  of  Peter  for  the  edification 
and  instruction  of  the  churches.  What  occasioned  the  writing 
of  Matthew?  A  close  examination  of  it  suggests  that 
a  variety  of  motives  actuated  the  writer.  He  was  in  part 
anxious  to  explain  to  his  Christian  brethren  the  continuity  of 
the  Christian  movement  with  Judaism,  upon  which  the  recent 
fall  of  Jerusalem  had  thrown  what  he  considered  new  and 
important  light.  He  wished  also  to  harmonize  and  unify 
the  various  writings  on  the  ministry  and  teaching  of  Jesus 
which  were  so  hkely  to  confuse  the  ordinary  man.  Probably 
Mark  had  shown  how  helpful  in  the  life  of  the  churches  even 
so  moderate  and  limited  a  gospel  could  be.  Some  light  is 
thrown  upon  the  place  of  origin  of  Matthew  by  the  fact  that 
it  is  first  clearly  reflected  in  the  letters  of  Ignatius  of  Antioch, 
early  in  the  second  century,  and  that  the  kind  of  circle,  mainly 


194        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Jewish  Christian,  for  which  it  was  evidently  intended  would 
be  most  likely  to  be  found  there,  in  the  years  just  following 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  To  that  place  and  period  it  is  probable 
the  Gospel  of  Matthew  is  to  be  referred. 

The  Acts. — Closely  related  to  the  Gospel  of  Luke,  and  so 
to  the  synoptic  problem,  is  the  Book  of  Acts,  written  by  the 
same  author  and  presumably  upon  principles  and  methods 
similar  to  those  which  governed  the  writing  of  Luke's  Gospel. 
The  problem  of  Acts  relates  to  its  authorship  and  trust- 
worthiness. All  agree  that  Luke  and  Acts  are  from  the  same 
hand,  and,  further,  that  the  writer  of  the  we-sections  (Acts 
16:10-18;  20:5-16;  21:1-18;  27:1 — 28:16)  was  a  com- 
panion of  Paul  and  an  eyewitness  of  what  he  reports  in  the 
first  person.  But  was  the  we-diarist  Luke?  Much  more 
important,  was  he  the  author  of  the  whole  Book  of  Acts  ? 
Furthermore-,  how  near  was  he  in  writing  to  the  events  which 
he  records?  Had  he  read  the  Antiquities  of  Josephus,  pub- 
lished in  the  thirteenth  year  of  Domitian,  93-94  a.d.  ?  And 
what  was  the  character  and  worth  of  the  sources  used  by  the 
Christian  historian  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  work?  All 
these  matters  are  of  essential  importance  to  the  interpretation 
of  Acts  and  the  reconstruction  of  early  Christian  history. 
On  the  whole,  there  is  not  sufficient  evidence  to  make  it 
probable  that  the  writer  of  Luke-Acts  used  Josephus'  work, 
and  it  seems  reasonable  to  conclude  that  the  we-diarist 
is  identical  with  the  author  who  speaks  in  the  first  person  in 
Acts  I :  I  and  in  Luke  1:3. 

The  reign  of  Domitian  introduced  the  Christian  movement 
to  a  new  situation.  The  increased  emphasis  upon  .emperor- 
worship  which  marked  that  reign  involved  Christians  in 
different  parts  of  the  Empire  in  suspicion,  condemnation,  and 
persecution.  This  situation  is  the  background  of  three  books 
of  the  New  Testament. 

Revelation.- — The  Revelation  is  the-  work  of  John,  a 
Christian  prophet  of  Asia,  who  was  imprisoned  for  his  Chris- 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  195 

tian  profession,  and  while  in  prison  wrote  a  series  of  letters 
and  visions  to  fortify  his  brethren  in  the  Asian  churches  against 
the  temptation  to  apostatize.  As  early  as  the  time  of  Justin 
{ca.  150  A.D.)  this  John  was  identified  with  the  apostle  John, 
but  there  is  nothing  in  the  Revelation  to  suggest  this.  Yet 
it  was  probably  this  idea  that  afterward  kept  the  Revelation 
of  John  in  the  New  Testament  of  the  Western  church,  when 
the  other  apocalypses  were  dropped  from  Christian  Scripture. 

A  more  serious  problem  in  the  study  of  the  Revelation 
is  that  of  its  dependence  upon  earlier  apocalyptic  writings. 
That  its  general  form  was  suggested  by  Jewish  apocalyptic 
works  such  as  Daniel  and  Enoch  goes  without  saying.  But 
there  are  certain  parts  of  it  which  seem  to  reflect  an  earher 
time  than  Domitian's,  and  it  is  at  least  possible  that  the  book 
as  we  know  it  is  based  upon  an  earher  apocalypse,  perhaps  of 
the  period  of  the  Jewish  War. 

Hebrews. — Another  work  of  Domitian's  time  is  the  so- 
called  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  The  anonymity  of  this  letter 
has  occasioned  much  futile  conjecture  as  to  the  identity  of  its 
author,  beginning  with  the  unfortunate  guess  of  Pantaenus 
that  it  was  from  the  hand  of  Paul.  It  is  more  important 
to  ascertain  to  whom  it  was  written  and  for  what  purpose. 
Its  strongly  Jewish  color  and  the  name  by  which  it  has  so 
long  been  known  have  led  many  scholars  to  the  view  that 
it  was  written  for  Jewish  Christians  in  Palestine  and  designed 
to  deter  them  from  lapsing  into  Judaism.  Over  against  this 
stands  the  fact  that  such  a  body  could  hardly  be  addressed  in 
Greek,  and  that  the  description  the  writer  gives  of  the  church 
to  which  he  is  writing  is  quite  inappropriate  to  the  Jerusalem 
church  or  any  Palestinian  church  of  which  we  know,  while  the 
Judaism  of  which  the  writer  speaks  is  always  that  of  the  wilder- 
ness and  the  tabernacle,  never  that  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
temple.  On  the  other  hand,  the  picture  given  of  the  church 
addressed,  with  its  virtues  and  faults  and  its  pecuhar  history, 
fits  remarkably  well  upon  the  Roman  church  in  the  time  of 


196        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Domitian,  and  the  salutations  of  "those  from  Italy"  (13:24) 
point  in  the  same  direction.  The  problem  is  a  difficult  one, 
but  it  is  decidedly  probable  that  the  letter  was  addressed 
to  Roman  Christians  whom  the  persecution  of  Domitian 
exposed  to  the  danger  of  discouragement  and  apostasy. 

I  Peter. — A  third  document  from  Domitian's  persecution 
may  serve  to  bind  these  two  together.  I  Peter  in  its  opening 
words  claims  to  be  the  work  of  the  apostle  Peter,  but  the  situa- 
tion it  reflects  can  hardly  be  earlier  than  the  time  of  Domitian, 
for  the  followers  of  Christ  are  being  persecuted  for  the  name 
of  Christ  and  as  Christians  (4:14,  16).  The  letter  is  written 
from  Rome,  which  is  spoken  of  as  Babylon,  as  in  the  Revela- 
tion, and  is  addressed  to  the  Christians  of  the  provinces  of 
Asia  Minor  who  are  undergoing  persecution.  But  why  was 
it  given  the  name  of  Peter  ?  It  may  have  been  the  work  of  a 
Roman  presbyter  of  that  name  (5:1)  who  was  afterward 
identified  with  the  apostle  Peter,  as  the  John  of  the  Revelation 
was  later  identified  with  the  apostle.  Or  the  explanation  may 
lie  in  the  fact  that  a  variety  of  works  were  put  forth  early  in 
the  second  century  under  the  name  of  Peter  and  were  widely 
accepted  as  genuine. 

The  Gospel  of  John. — The  Johannine  problem  in  its 
larger  aspects  includes  the  authorship  of  all  the  five  writings 
ascribed  by  Christian  tradition  to  the  apostle  John.  The 
main  interest  of  it  centers  about  the  Gospel  of  John  which, 
while  anonymous,  in  a  later  epilogue,  chap.  21,  distinctly 
claims  the  apostle  John  as  its  voucher.  When  compared  with 
the  synoptic  representation,  however,  the  Johannine  is  found 
to  differ  in  certain  vital  respects.  The  Jesus  of  the  Synoptists, 
reticent  about  himself  and  his  office,  gives  way  to  a  divine 
Christ  promptly  and  boldly  asserting  his  pre-existence  and 
messiahship.  The  synoptic  order  of  narrative,  disrupted  at 
many  points,  is  sometimes  even  inverted.  The  boldly  apoca- 
lyptic eschatological  teaching  of  Jesus  reported  by  the  Synop- 
tists gives  way  to  a  spiritualized  eschatology,  and  the  Jewish 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  197 

forms  of  thought  in  which  the  Synoptists  cast  their  message 
are  replaced  by  more  Hellenized  and  universal  ones. 

It  is  evidently  true  that  if  the  author  of  this  gospel  was  a 
personal  follower  of  Jesus,  still  more  if  he  was  his  confidential 
disciple,  the  Fourth  Gospel  has  substantial  claims  to  be  con- 
sidered the  authoritative  formulation  of  Jesus'  thought  and 
teaching.  But  apostoHc  authorship  is  not  the  most  vital  point 
of  the  Johannine  problen.  The  point  is  rather  the  historical 
truth  of  the  picture  of  Jesus  and  his  teaching  which  it  contains. 
Is  this  or  is  the  synoptic  representation  the  true  one  ?  Are 
both  true,  the  synoptic  presenting  the  public  external  aspect 
of  Jesus'  life  and  teaching,  the  Johannine  the  intimate  esoteric 
explanation  of  himself  which  he  made  to  his  disciples  ?  Or 
is  the  Fourth  Gospel  the  end-of-the-century  reinterpretation 
of  Jesus  in  the  more  universal  terms  of  Greek  thinking,  in 
accord  with  the  wider  horizons  and  new  streams  of  thought 
which  the  success  of  the  gentile  mission  had  brought  with  it, 
and  colored  with  the  Hellenic  thought  of  its  time,  somewhat 
as  the  Synoptic  Gospels  are  colored  with  the  Jewish  ideas  of 
theirs  ? 

But  if  this  be  the  solution  of  the  Johannine  problem,  it 
leaves  some  elements  still  to  be  explained.  What  is  the  his- 
torical value  of  the  specific  narratives  it  preserves  ?  What 
genuine  elements  of  Jesus'  teaching,  wanting  in  the  Synoptists, 
has  it  preserved?  How  far  does  its  chronology  of  Jesus' 
ministry  soundly  correct  that  of  the  Synoptists  ?  Is  its 
spiritualization  of  synoptic  eschatology  a  bold  effort  to 
assimilate  apocalyptic  crudities  to  Greek  thinking  on  the 
part  of  a  writer  who  had  undertaken  to  transplant  Christianity 
from  Jewish  soil  to  Greek,  or  a  real  sounding  of  the  profound 
thought  of  Jesus  ? 

/,  //,  ///  John. — Of  the  three  Johannine  letters,  the 
first  is  so  like  the  Gospel  of  John  in  tone  and  ideas  that  it 
might  almost  be  a  stray  leaf  from  it,  and  seems  clearly  to  have 
come  from  the  same  hand  with  it.     The  second  and  third  are 


1 98        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

more  evidently  letters,  one  to  a  church,  the  other  to  a  certain 
Gaius,  from  one  who  calls  himself "  the  Elder,"  and  deals  with  a 
dispute  over  views  and  authority  which  has  the  ring  of  the 
early  second  century.  They  may  well  be  from  the  hand  which 
wrote  the  Gospel  and  I  John,  and  suggest  that  "the  Elder" 
may  be  that  Elder  John  of  whom  Papias  speaks.  This  has 
led  some  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Gospel  of  John  embodies 
traditional  materials  from  the  apostle  John  recast  and  inter- 
preted by  John  the  Elder.  In  both  Gospel  and  letters  is 
reflected  the  docetic  controversy  of  the  beginning  of  the  second 
century. 

Later  epistles:  James. — There  remain  three  so-called  epistles 
bearing  the  names  of  James,  Peter,  and  Jude.  The  first  of  these 
is  quite  clearly  a  Christian  sermon  later  published  among  the 
churches  under  the  name  of  James,  who  afterward  came  to  be 
identified  with  James  of  Jerusalem,  the  brother  of  Jesus.  It 
is  an  interesting  example  of  early  Christian  preaching,  but  it 
is  not  possible  to  determine  who  the  James  whose  name  it 
bears  was. 

Jude  and  II  Peter. — The  Epistle  of  Jude  is  directed 
against  the  docetic  thinkers  who  made  of  Jesus  so  fantastic 
and  unreal  a  figure.  Its  author  is  represented  to  have  been  a 
brother  of  James  and  so  of  Jesus.  The  letter  is  a  vehement 
denunciation  of  the  Docetists  and  shows  a  canonical  regard 
for  Jewish  works  like  the  Assumption  of  Moses  and  the 
Book  of  Enoch.  The  substance  of  this  little  document  is 
closely  paralleled  in  II  Peter,  and  the  question  arises  how  this 
is  to  be  explained.  Is  Jude  a  condensation  of  II  Peter,  or  is 
II  Peter  an  expansion  of  Jude,  or  are  both  based  upon  some 
other  document  ?  II  Peter  is  directed  against  certain  persons 
who  were  denying  t^e  second  coming  of  Christ,  and  it  seems 
most  probable  that  the  writer  simply  appropriated  to  this 
purpose  the  denunciation  which  in  Jude  is  directed  at  the 
Docetists.  II  Peter  is  remarkable  in  the  number  of  New 
Testament  books  known  to  its  writer ;  he  speaks  of  a  collection 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  199 

of  Paul's  letters,  alludes  to  I  Peter  and  the  Gospel  of  Mark, 
quotes  the  Gospels  of  Matthew  and  of  John,  and  reproduces 
most  of  the  contents  of  Jude.  II  Peter  is  therefore  m  all  proba- 
bility the  latest  of  the  New  Testament  books.  But  its  writer 
fully  intends  it  to  be  understood  as  the  work  of  Peter  and  seeks 
to  identify  himself  in  a  variety  of  ways  with  the  apostle.  That 
such  a  course  was  not  unusual  in  the  Christian  Hterature  of 
the  second  century  has  already  been  pointed  out,  and  intel- 
ligent Christian  opinion  in  antiquity  came  very  slowly  and 
reluctantly  to  the  acceptance  of  II  Peter  as  apostolic. 

Literature. — i.  Brief  works  in  English  on  all  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament:  B.  W.  Bacon,  An  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament  (New 
York:  Macmillan,  1900);  Hermann  v.  Soden,  The  History  of  Early  Chris- 
tian Literature  (New  York:  Putnam,  1906);  A.  S.  Peake,  Critical 
Introduction  to  the  New  Testament  (New  York:  Scribner,  19 10);  E.  J. 
Goodspeed,  The  Story  of  the  New  Testament  (Chicago:  The  University  of 
Chicago  Press,  19 16),  a  brief  presentation  for  the  general  reader  of  the 
situations  out  of  which  the  several  New  Testament  books  arose  and  the 
way  in  which  they  met  these  situations. 

2.  Fuller  works  covering  all  the  books  of  the  New  Testament: 
B.  Weiss,  Lehrbuch  der  Einleitung  in  das  Neue  Testament,  3d  ed.    (Berlin : 

"Hertz,  1897);  A  Manual  of  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament,  2  vols. 
(New  York:  Funk  &  Wagnalls,  1889),  a  translation  of  a  previous  edi- 
tion of  the  above;  H.  Holtzmann,  Lehrbuch  der  historisch-kritischen 
Einleitung  in  das  Neue  Testament,  3d  ed.  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1892); 
A.  Jiilicher,  Einleitung  in  das  Neue  Testament,  6th  ed.  (Tubingen: 
Mohr,  1913);  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament  (New  York:  Putnam, 
1904),  a  translation  of  an  earlier  edition  of  the  above,  a  valuable  intro- 
duction, representing  liberal  but  not  extreme  views,  with  fewer  technical 
details  than  Moffatt  furnishes;  T.  Zahn,  Introduction  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment, 3  vols.  (New  York:  Scribner,  1909);  C.  R.  Gregory,  Einleitung  in 
das  Neue  Testament  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1909);  James  Moffatt,  Intro- 
duction to  the  Literature  of  the  New  Testament  (New  York:  Scribner,  191 1), 
the  most  complete  volume  for  the  well-equipped  student. 

3.  Introductions  to  particular  books  or  groups  of  books:  V.  H. 
Stanton,  The  Gospels  as  Historical  Documents,  2  vols.  (New  York: 
Putnam,  1904);  E.  D.  Burton,  A  Short  Introduction  to  the  Gospels 
(Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1904);  Principles  of  Liter- 
ary Criticism  and  the  Synoptic  Problem  (Chicago:    The  University  of 


200        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Chicago  Press,  1904);  J.  Wellhausen,  Einleitung  in  die  drei  ersten 
Evangelien  (Berlin:  Reimer,  1905);  A.  Harnack,  The  Sayings  of  Jesus 
(New  York:  Putnam,  1908);  William  Sanday  (editor),  Studies  in  the 
Synoptic  Problem  (Oxford,  191 1);  The  Criticism  of  the  Fourth  Gospel 
(New  York:  Scribner,  1905);  James  Drummond,  The  Character  and 
Authorship  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  (London:  Williams  &  Norgate,  1903); 
E.  F.  Scott,  The  Fourth  Gospel:  Its  Purpose  and  Theology  (Edinburgh: 
Clark,  1906);  H.  H.  Wendt,  The  Gospel  according  to  St.  John  (New 
York:  Scribner,  1902);  Robert  Scott,  The  Pauline  Epistles  (New  York: 
Scribner,  1909);  F.  Godet,  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament.  The 
Pauline  Epistles  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1899);  'Lake,  The  Earlier  Epistles 
of  St.  Paul,  2ded.  (London:  Rivington,  1914). 

4.  The  acquisition  of  the  language  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment.— What  has  already  been  said  respecting  the  nature  of  the 
interpretative  process  makes  it  at  once  evident  that  the  inter- 
preter must  be  acquainted  with  the  language  in  which  the  htera- 
ture  which  he  is  interpreting  is  written.  Any  language  is  a 
system  of  arbitrary  symbols  for  ideas.  There  is  no  necessary, 
in  the  majority  of  cases  there  is  not  even  a  natural,  relation  be- 
tween the  subject  described  or  the  idea  expressed  by  a  word  and 
that  word  itself.  This,  which  is  obviously  true,  is  made  more 
evident  by  the  fact  that  there  are  literally  thousands  of  human 
languages.  In  other  words,  men  have  created  thousands 
of  systems,  each  of  which,  differing  from  every  other  one, 
is  used  for  the  symbolizing  of  human  thoughts.  Not  only  so, 
but  there  are  as  many  systems  of  expressing  those  differentia- 
tions of  thought  which  are  indicated  by  the  inflections  and 
syntactical  relations  of  words  as  there  are  for  the  differences 
of  thought  expressed  by  different  words.  These  facts  make 
it  necessary  that  the  interpreter  of  any  writer  or  speaker  shall 
be  acquainted  with  that  particular  system  of  symbols — 
that  is,  that  particular  language— in  which  the  author  whom 
he  is  interpreting  writes  or  speaks.  The  man  of  but  one 
language  may  be  scarcely  aware  of  this  fact,  but  the  German 
who  desires  to  understand  a  Greek  or  the  Frenchman  who 
wishes  to  understand  a  Chinese  quickly  discovers  it. 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  201 

But  it  is  not  only  the  man  who  desires  to  interpret  a 
different  language  from  his  own  who  is  compelled  to  make  a 
study  of  the  language.  There  are  60,000  characters  in  the 
Chinese  language,  each  of  which  represents  a  different  idea. 
A  fairly  well-educated  man  knows  but  2,000  of  these.  To 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  other  58,000  is  no  small  task. 
It  is  less  obvious  but  equally  true  that  no  user  of  the  EngUsh 
language  knows  all  the  meanings  of  all  the  words  of  that 
language,  and  the  English  student  of  the  English  Bible  does 
not  therefore  escape  the  necessity  of  being  a  diligent  student 
of  the  language  of  the  Bible.  To  learn  Greek  may  be  more 
difficult  for  him  than  to  learn  English.  But  when  Greek  has 
been  once  acquired,  he  may  learn  the  ideas  represented  by  the 
New  Testament  words  more  easily,  and  certainly  more 
exactly,  through  the  medium  of  the  Greek  than  through  that 
of  the  English. 

But  not  all  the  meaning  of  the  word  is  conveyed  by 
its  stem  or  body.  The  terminations  show  whether  it  refers 
to  one  object  or  many,  whether  it  denotes  the  person  or  thing 
of  which  the  sentence  affirms  something,  or  one  who  is  affected 
by  the  action  spoken  of  in  the  predicate.  These  and  many 
other  varieties  of  relations  between  things  spoken  of  are 
expressed  by  the  inflections  of  words. 

Out  of  this  double  fact  that  ideas  are  expressed  by  words 
and  that  words  themselves  take  on  different  forms  to  express 
certain  variations  of  the  idea  for  which  they  stand  arises 
the  necessity  for  lexicography  and  grammar. 

a)  Lexicography. — ^This  is  the  process  by  which  one  dis- 
covers and  formulates  the  meanings  of  words,  i.e.,  the  idea 
or  ideas  for  the  expression  of  which  a  given  word  may  be 
employed.  Had  each  word  but  one  meaning  and  were  there 
for  each  idea  a  separate  word,  this  process  would  be  relatively 
simple  and  might  be  compared  to  a  mere  table  of  equivalents 
of  Roman  and  Arabic  figures.  In  fact,  however,  in  every 
language  most  words  have  various  meanings  and  many  ideas 


202        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

can  be  expressed  by  different  words.  Furthermore,  behind 
this  variety  of  usage  there  Hes  in  all  cases  a  historical  process, 
in  some  cases  of  centuries  of  extent.  Words  which  have  in  one 
period  a  certain  meaning  have  in  a  later  period  come  to  have  a 
very  different  meaning;  sometimes  the  latter  is  almost  the 
exact  opposite  of  the  former.  The  task  of  the  lexicographer  is 
therefore  a  strictly  historical  one.  His  task  is  to  determine 
what  meaning,  or  what  various  meanings,  the  writers  of  a 
given  period  were  accustomed  to  express  by  the  use  of  a  given 
word.  To  discover  this,  it  is  often  necessary  not  only  to 
examine  the  extant  literature  which  has  come  down  to  us  from 
the  period  in  question,  but  to  trace  the  development  of  the 
usage  through  the  previous  periods  in  the  history  of  the  lan- 
guage. One  can,  for  example,  scarcely  decide  what  the  word 
''lord"  means  in  the  New  Testament  without  an  extended 
investigation  of  its  usage  both  by  Hebrew  and  by  Greek 
writers;  and  the  same  is  true  of  many  other  words,  such  as 
"soul,"  "spirit,"  "holiness,"  "repentance." 

Literature. — Though  they  give  some  attention  to  New  Testament 
usage,  the  standard  lexicons  of  the  Greek  language  exhibit  this  usage 
so  inadequately  as  to  make  them  insufficient  for  the  purpose  of  the  New 
Testament  student.  Yet  because  it  shows  the  New  Testament  usage 
In  relation  to  the  general  use  of  words  in  Greek  literature  at  large,  the 
student  will  often  have  occasion  to  consult  Liddell  and  Scott,  A  Greek 
Lexicon,  8th  ed.  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1891).  But  of  far  more 
use  for  the  student  of  New  Testament  Greek  is  J.  H.  Thayer,  A  Greek- 
English  Lexicon  of  the  New  Testament:  being  Grimm's  edition  of 
Wilke's  Clavis  Novi  Testamenti,  translated,  revised,  and  enlarged,  cor- 
rected edition  (New  York:  Harper,  1889);  Erwin  Preuschen,  V ollstdndiges 
griechisch-deutsches  Handworterbuch  zu  den  Schriften  des  Neuen  Testa- 
ments und  der  iihrigen  Urchristlichen  Litteratur  (Giessen:  Topelmann, 
1 9 10).  The  testimony  of  the  Greek  papyri  is  taken  account  of  in  later 
lexical  works:  F.  Zorell,  Novi  Testamenti  Lexicon  Graecum  (Paris, 
Lethielleux,  19 11);  H.  Eberling,  Griechisch-deutsches  Wortcrhuch  zum 
Neuen  Testamente  (Leipzig,  Hahn,  1913);  Moulton  and  Milligan,  The 
Vocabulary  of  the  Greek  Testament  Illustrated  from  the  Papyri  and  Other 
Non-Literary  Sources  (London,  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1914)  (in  progress: 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  203 

Parts  I,  II,  a-Sj .  A  later  work  than  Thayer,  but  on  the  whole  a  less  useful 
one,  is  Hermann  Cremer,  Biblisch-theologisches  Worterbuch  zum  Neuen 
Testament,  gth.  ed.  (Gotha:  Perthes,  1902);  Bihlico-Theological  Lexicon 
of  New  Testament  Greek  (Edinburgh  and  New  York,  1880-86),  trans- 
lation of  the  second  edition  of  above  work,  with  supplement  based 
on  the  fifth  edition.  It  consists  of  historical-lexicographical  studies  of 
-  the  most  important  New  Testament  words,  and  is  a  valuable  supplement 
to  Thayer,  useful  for  extended  study  rather  than  ready  reference. 

For  purposes  of  independent  study  of  New  Testament  words  one 
needs  concordances,  the  best  being  Moulton  and  Geden,  Concordance  of 
New  Testament  Words  (New  York:  Scribner,  1897);  C.  H.  B ruder, 
Concordantiae  Novi  Testanienti,  7th  ed.  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und 
Ruprecht,  1913) ;  Hatch  and  Redpath,  Concordance  to  the  Septuagint  and 
Other  Greek  Versions  of  the  Old  Testament,  2  vols.  (Oxford:  Clarendon 
Press,  1897). 

For  a  fuller  discussion  of  the  nature  of  lexicographical  study  as 
applied  to  New  Testament  words  see  E.  D.  Burton,  "The  Study  of  New 
Testament  Words,"  Old  and  New  Testament  Student,  XII  "(1891),  135-47. 

For  examples  of  special  studies  see,  besides  Cremer,  mentioned  above, 
A.  Deissmann,  Bible  Studies,  2d  ed.  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1903);  G.  Dal- 
man.  The  Words  of  Jesus  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1902);  E.  F.  Thompson, 
The  Words  Meravoew  and  Mera/xeAtt  (Chicago:  The  University  of 
Chicago  Press,  1908);  E.  D.  Burton,  "Spirit,  Soul  and  Flesh,"  a  series 
of  articles  in  the  American  Journal  of  Theology,  XVII  (October,  1913), 
563-98;  XVIII  (January,  1914),  59-80;  (July,  1914),  395-414;  (October, 
1914),  571-99;  XX  (July,  1916),  390-413- 

•  h)  Grammar. — What  the  lexicographer  does  in  relation 
to  the  body  or  stem  of  a  word,  the  grammarian  does  in  rela- 
tion to  the  variations  of  meaning  conveyed  by  the  inflection 
of  the  word,  and  in  general  in  respect  to  the  relations  of  words 
in  sentences.  It  is  his  task  to  arrange  the  various  word-forms 
in  an  orderly  scheme  and  to  determine  what  various  shades 
of  ideas  are  expressed  by  these  variations.  What  the  nomina- 
tive case  signifies,  or  the  dative,  what  variation  of  idea  is 
conveyed  by  the  use  of  the  present  tense  or  the  past,  by  the 
subjunctive  mood  or  the  optative,  how  sentences  are  built 
and  what  ideas  are  expressed  by  the  structure  of  sentences — 
with  all  these  and  like  questions  the  grammarian  deals. 
It  is  obvious  on  the  one  hand  that  all  these  are,  hke  those  of 


204        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  lexicographer,  purely  questions  of  history,  pertaining  to 
the  habits  of  men  in  respect  to  the  use  of  words  in  a  given 
period,  and,  on  the  other,  that  the  answers  to  them  are  indis- 
pensable to  the  processes  of  interpretation. 

Literature. — In  the  field  of  grammar,  even  more  than  in  that  of 
lexicography,  the  New  Testament  student  will  have  occasion  to  consult 
the  standard  grammars  of  the  Greek  language:  W.  W.  Goodwin,  A  Greek 
Grammar  (Boston:  Ginn,  1895);  Hadley- Allen,  A  Greek  Grammar  for 
Schools  and  Colleges  (New  York:  Appleton,  1889);  W.  W.  Goodwin, 
Syntax  of  the  Moods  and  Tenses  of  the  Greek  Verb  (Boston:  Ginn,  1890) ; 
Carl  Brugmann,  Griechische  Grammatik,  4th  ed.  (Miinchen:  Beck,  1913). 

For  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament  in  particular,  which,  however, 
it  is  even  more  clear  than  formerly,  used  in  general  the  forms  and  followed 
the  syntax  of  the  common  Greek  of  -the  period,  see  A.  Buttmann,  A 
Grammar  of  the  New  Testament  Greek,  translated  by  J.  H.  Thayer 
(Andover:  Draper,  1891);  G.  B.  Winer,  A  Treatise  on  the  Grammar  of 
New  Testament  Greek,  translated  by  W.  F.  Moulton,  3d  ed.  (Edinburgh, 
1882);  F.  Blass,  Grammar  of  New  Testament  Greek,  2d  ed.  (New  York, 
1905);  Grammatik  des  neutestamentlichen  Griechisch,  4th  ed.,  edited 
by  Albert  Delbrunner  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1913), 
being  a  revised  edition  of  the  original  of  the  preceding;  E.  D.  Burton, 
Syntax  of  the  Moods  and  Tenses  in  New  Testament  Greek,  6th  ed.  (Chicago: 
The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1913)  (unchanged  from  3d  ed.,  1898); 
J.  H.  Moulton,  A  Grammar  of  New  Testament  Greek,  Vol.  I,  Prolegomena, 
3d  ed.  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1908);  A.  T.  Robertson,  A  Short  Grammar 
of  the  Greek  New  Testament  (New  York:  Armstrong,  1909);  L.  Rader- 
macher,  Handbuch  sum  Neuen  Testament,  Bd.  I,  Neutestamentliche 
Grammatik  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  191 1);  A.  T.  Robertson,  A  Grammar  of 
the  Greek  New  Testament  in  the  Light  of  Historical  Research  (New  York: 
Hodder  &  Stoughton,  19 14),  an  exhaustive  work  making  much  use  of  the 
results  of  comparative  philology  and  quoting  extensively  from  recent 
writers. 

5.  The  recovery  of  the  text. — a)- What  is  textual  criti- 
cism?-— To  understand  what  a  man  has  said,  it  is  essential 
to  know  what  he  said.  If  a  precise  understanding  of  the 
meaning  is  wanted  or  if  he  has  dealt  with  matters  of  impor- 
tance, it  is  desirable  to  know  exactly  what  he  said.  If  he 
wrote  his  words  instead  of  merely  speaking  them,  we  can 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  205 

reach  certainty  as  to  what  he  wrote  by  consulting  his  auto- 
graph manuscript,  as  in  the  case  of  Lincoln's  Gettysburg 
address.  In  the  case  of  ancient  writers  whose  original  manu- 
scripts, autograph  or  dictated,  have  been  lost,  we  must 
depend  upon  copies  made  from  them  or  secondary  copies  made 
from  these  in  turn  or  from  copies  even  further  removed  from 
the  originals. 

But  it  is  very  difficult  to  copy  even  a  few  pages  with 
absolute  accuracy,  and  different  copies  of  ancient  works 
naturally  differ  from  one  another  in  many  particulars.  Which 
is  right  ?  Probably  no  one  of  them  is  entirely  so.  One  may 
preserve  some  particulars  correctly,  another  others.  Com- 
parison and  scrutiny  are  necessary  to  decide  which  copy  is 
probably  closer  to  the  original  at  the  points  in  which  the  copies, 
disagree.     This  is  textual  criticism. 

In  some  cases  an  ancient  work  has  come  down  to  us  in  a 
single  copy  made  long  after  the  original  work  was  written. 
It  is  evident  that  it  matters  very  httle  how  many  years  have 
passed  between  the  writing  of  the  original  work  and  the 
making  of  this  particular  copy,  but  very  much  how  many 
copies  have  intervened,  for  with  every  copying  of  the  text 
a  new  opportunity  is  given  for  errors  to  creep  in.  When  an 
ancient  work  has  been  preserved  in  but  a  single  copy,  the 
effort  to  recover  the  precise  text  of  the  lost  original  must 
take  the  form  of  conjecture;  that  is,  wherever  the  text  is  not 
smooth  or  consistent,  or  does  not  yield  an  intelligible  sense,  the 
scholar  who  is  trying  to  recover  the  original  text  must  try 
to  guess  what  the  writer  actually  wrote  from  what  his  copyists 
have  represented  him  as  writing.  More  can  often  be  done 
in  this  direction  than  might  seem  probable,  but  at  best  this 
method  is  dangerous  even  in  the  ablest  hands  and  should 
always  be  used  sparingly  and  with  caution. 

b)  The  problem  of  the  New  Testament  text. — -But  the  New 
Testament  is  preserved  not  in  one  manuscript  only  or  a 
few,  but  in  hundreds  and  even  thousands,  in  a  greater  number 


2o6        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

indeed  than  any  other  work  of  literature.  Few  of  these 
contain  all  the  New  Testament.  It  was  usual  to  copy  the 
Gospels  together,  the  epistles  of  Paul  together,  and  so  on. 
But  not  only  are  there  hundreds  of  such  manuscripts  of  the 
original  Greek  text,  but  in  the  early  centuries  the  New 
Testament  was  translated  into  Latin,  Syriac,  Coptic,  Arabic, 
Armenian,  Ethiopic,  Persian,  Gothic,  and  other  languages,  and 
the  manuscripts  of  some  of  these  versions  are  very  numerous. 
The  textual  materials  for  New  Testament  study  are  in  fact 
so  abundant  as  to  be  really  overwhelming. 

Anyone  who  undertakes  to  study  the  New  Testament 
seriously  in  EngHsh  finds  it  presented  to  him  in  different 
textual  forms.  The  Authorized  Version  differs  materially 
from  the  Revised  Version  of  1881,  and  that  in  turn  often 
reads  differently  from  the  American  Revision.  There  are 
besides  numerous  lesser  translations.     Which  is  right? 

The  Authorized  Version  of  161 1,  like  the  series  of  English 
versions  that  had  preceded  it,  beginning  with  1525,  was 
based  on  the  early  printed  editions.  In  15 14  the  Greek  New 
Testament  was  first  printed  at  Alcala  in  Spain,  but  before  it 
was  published  Erasmus  in  15 16  issued  his  edition,  and  many 
editions  followed  these.  For  all  of  these  the  text  was  drawn 
from  late  manuscripts  of  the  tenth  to  the  fifteenth  centuries, 
which  differed  relatively  Httle  from  one  another. 

But  in  the  years  that  followed,  manuscripts  of  much 
greater  age  and  of  very  different  textual  quahty  came  one 
by  one  to  light.  In  1581  Theodore  de  Beze  gave  to  the 
University  of  Cambridge  his  famous  manuscript,  called  after 
him  the  Codex  Bezae.  In  1628  the  patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople gave  to  the  king  of  England  the  Codex  Alexandrinus. 
New  studies  revealed  the  worth  of  the  ancient  Codex  Vati- 
canus,  the  Paris  Codex  of  Ephrem  was  deciphered,  and  Tisch- 
endorf  discovered  at  Mount  Sinai  the  Codex  Sinaiticus.  Both 
Vaticanus  and  Sinaiticus  date  from  the  fourth  century, 
and  they  are  generally  considered  our  best  New  Testament 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  207 

manuscripts.  The  more  ancient  versions,  first  printed  in 
the  sixteenth  and  the  seventeeth  centuries,  in  the  nine- 
teenth began  to  be  critically  examined  and  the  materials 
for  the  study  of  the  New  Testament  text  were  thus  greatly 
increased. 

c)  Better  textual  materials. — This  growing  mass  of  materials 
led  to  improved  methods  of  investigation.  Scholars  had  at 
first  been  content  to  reprint  the  prevailing  sixteenth-century 
text,  the  Received  Text,  as  it  was  called,  and  to  put  any 
valuable  variants  from  it  which  the  study  of  freshly  discov- 
ered manuscripts  yielded,  into  footnotes.  But  the  really 
superior  readings  at  length  became  so  numerous  that  the  true 
text  was  often  to  be  found  in  the  margin  instead  of  in  the 
column  above.  The  editors  of  the  Greek  text  had  therefore 
to  revise  the  Received  Text.  They  did  this  at  first  modestly 
and  sparingly,  but  at  length  grew  bolder  and  broke  away 
from  it  altogether,  basing  their  text  no  longer  on  the  Received 
Text,  but  wholly  upon  the  ancient  manuscripts,  from  the 
fourth  to  the  tenth  centuries,  which  had  come  to  hght.  It 
was  the  development  of  this  critical  ancient  text,  differing 
widely  from  that  on  which  the  Authorized  Version  had  been 
based,  that  necessitated  the  Revision  of  188 1. 

d)  Types  of  New  Testament  text. — Yet  these  ancient 
manuscripts  do  not  agree  among  themselves.  Some  of 
them  exhibit  the  same  kind  of  text  that  we  find  in  the  sermons 
of  John  Chrysostom,  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century. 
Quotations  such  as  he  and  other  Christian  Fathers  make  from 
the  New  Testament  are  in  fact  among  the  most  important  aids 
to  the  study  of  the  history  of  the  text,  because  we  can  fix 
their  dates  and  places  of  abode  as  we  cannot  those  of  most 
manuscripts.  It  was  this  text  of  Chrysostom's,  which  he  had 
probably  learned  at  Antioch,  which  prevailed  in  the  Middle 
Ages  and  came  down  to  modern  times  as  the  Received  Text. 
Other  early  manuscripts,  like  the  Codex  Bezae  and  parts  of 
the  Freer  and  Koridethi  Gospels,  show  a  very  different  text, 


2o8        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

with  additions,  omissions,  and  occasional  substitutions,  some- 
times of  a  very  striking  character.  This  erratic  text  has 
often  the  support  of  very  early  Christian  writers,  who  seem 
to  quote  the  New  Testament  in  this  form.  Other  manuscripts 
again  preserve  a  text  less  picturesque  than  this  and  at  many 
points  less  full  and  smooth  than  that  of  Chrysostom.  Some 
would  distinguish  a  fourth  type  of  text  differing  from  this  last 
only  in  its  greater  smoothness  and  finish.  How  did  these  text- 
ual types  come  into  existence  ?  What  are  their  relations  to  one 
another  ?  Which  of  them  is  nearest  to  the  original  text  ? 
And  how  can  the  original  text  be  reached  through  them  ? 
These  are  the  questions  which  textual  study  seeks  to  answer. 
e)  Method  of  textual  criticism. — In  doing  this  it  is  helpful 
to  remember  that  changes  made  in  copying  are  not  all  invol- 
untary; they  are  often  intentional.  We  do  not  understand 
what  lies  before  us  to  be  copied,  and  so  we  naturally  alter 
it  to  make  sense.  This  alteration  may  possibly  restore  the 
original  text  where  an  earlier  scribe  had  corrupted  it,  but 
it  is  quite  as  likely  to  corrupt  the  text  or  to  make  a  previous 
corruption  worse.  With  all  three  forms  of  such  a  passage 
before  us  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  discover  which  was  the 
original  and  which  the  secondary  reading.  By  this  compari- 
son of  rival  readings  we  can  in  fact  often  determine  which  is 
the  parent  reading.  Some  manuscripts  prove  upon  examina- 
tion to  contain  a  large  proportion  of  such  readings,  and  we 
conclude  that  they  represent  a  comparatively  pure  text. 
We  infer  that  in  other  readings  less  demonstrably  original 
they  are  probably  right.  When  such  a  manuscript  is  found 
to  agree  in  numerous  particulars  with  another  manuscript 
which  has  on  similar  grounds  established  its  claims  to  accu- 
racy, the  group  thus  formed  carries  great  weight.  If  others 
can  be  added  to  the  group,  their  testimony  is  further  strength- 
ened. In  such  ways,  by  the  comparison  of  series  of  rival 
readings,  by  the  discovery  of  superior  readings  throughout  a 
manuscript,  by  the  study  of  groups  of  kindred  manuscripts,  and 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  209 

b^  distinguishing  parent  manuscripts  from  their  descendents, 
something  hke  certainty  in  textual  study  can  be  attained. 

Literature. — Westcott  and  Hort,  The  New  Testament  in  Greek,  2  vols. 
(London:  Macmillan,  1881,  Vol.  II,  revised  ed.  1896).  Vol.  I  presents 
the  best  Greek  text  of  the  New  Testament  that  criticism  has  yet  pro- 
duced; Vol.  II,  the  best  estimate  of  textual  materials  and  the  best 
statement  as  to  the  theory  of  textual  history  and  the  method  of  textual 
study.  F.  G.  Kenyon,  Handbook  to  the  Textual  Criticism  of  the  New 
Testament,  2d  ed.  (London:  Macmillan,  19 12),  is  an  excellent  compre- 
hensive manuarfor  the  use  of  students.  C.  R.  Gregory,  Textkritik  des 
Neuen  Testamentes,  3  vols.  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1900-1909),  is  especially 
valuable  for  its  full  descriptions  of  manuscripts  and  other  textual  ma- 
terials. C.  R.  Gregory,  The  Canon  and  Text  of  the  New  Testament  (New 
York:  Scribner,  1907),  furnishes  a  popular  treatment  dealing  especially 
with  the  materials  of  textual  criticism,  manuscripts,  versions,  and 
editions.  C.  R.  Gregory,  Die  griechischcn  Handschriften  des  Neuen 
Testaments  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1908),  embodies  an  improved  system  of 
manuscript  designations.  A.  Souter,  The  Text  and  Canon  of  the  New 
Testament  (New  York:  Scribner,  1913),  is  a  concise  and  intelligent  intro- 
duction to  the  subject,  intended  for  students.  M.  R.  Vincent,  A  His- 
tory of  Textual  Criticism  (New  York:  Scribner,  1899),  is  especially  useful 
as  a  sketch  of  the  various  editions  and  the  critical  principles  underlying 
them.  H.  v.  Soden,  Die  Schriften  des  Neuen  Testaments,  2  vols.  (Berlin: 
Duncker  and  Glaue,  1902-13),  furnishes  a  new  approach  to  the  textual 
problem,  resulting  in  a  partial  return  to  the  Received  Text.  While  C. 
Tischendorf,  Novum  Testamentum  Graece,  ed.  octava  crit.  maior,  2  vols. 
(Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1869-72),  has  been  excelled  by  the  text  of  Westcott 
and  Hort,  Tischendorf's  apparatus  of  readings,  though  far  from  infallible 
or  complete,  is  still  unsurpassed.  K.  Lake,  The  Text  of  the  New  Testament 
(London:  Rivington,  1902;  4th  ed..  New  York:  Gorham,  1908),  is  the 
best  short  sketch  for  the  general  reader.  F.  H.  A.  Scrivener,  A  Plain 
Introduction  to  the  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament,  2  vols.,  4th  ed.  (London: 
Bell,  1894),  is  an  elaborate  work,  advocating  the  superiority  of  the  tra- 
ditional text. 

6.  The  interpretation  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment.— With  the  book  in  a  corrected  text  before  him,  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  language  in  which  it  is  written,  with  an  intel- 
hgent  understanding  of  the  life  of  the  period  in  which  it  was 
written  and  a  specific  knowledge  of  the  occasion  which  called 


2IO        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

forth  the  book  and  the  purpose  which  it  was  intended  to 
achieve,  the  student  is  prepared  to  undertake  the  detailed  inter- 
pretation of  the  book  itself.  This  involves,  as  already  pointed 
out,  the  discovery  with  the  utmost  possible  accuracy  of  the 
precise  state  of  mind  of  the  author  of  which  the  book  is  a 
reflection  (cf.  p.  177). 

The  interpretative  process  may  be  divided  into  two  parts, 
grammatical  interpretation  and  logical  interpretation.  The 
term  "grammatical,"  as  here  used,  does  not  mean  pertaining 
to  grammar,  but  has  a  meaning  derived  directly  from  the  Greek 
word  gramma,  pertaining  to  that  which  is  written.  Similarly, 
the  term  "logical,"  as  here  used,  has  no  direct  reference  to 
logic,  but  derives  its  meaning  from  the  Greek  word  logos 
in  the  sense  of  discourse. 

Grammatical  interpretation  deals  with  the  separate 
expressed  elements  that  compose  the  complex  discourse,  and 
aims  at  the  reproduction  of  the  author's  thought  in  so  far  as 
that  thought  was  embodied  in  the  separate  terms  as  such  and 
in  their  grammatical  relations. 

Logical  interpretation  deals  with  the  thought  of  the 
writer  in  its  continuity  as  discourse. 

a)  Grammatical  interpretation. — This  part  of  the  inter- 
pretative process  falls  into  two  parts,  according  as  it  has  to 
do  with  the  meaning  of  words  or  with  their  relation  in  the 
sentence;    with  questions  of  lexicography  or  of  grammar. 

On  its  lexicographical  side  again  it  falls  into  two  parts, 
according  as  it  seeks  to  ascertain  the  general  usages  of  a  word 
or  its  particular  meaning  in  the  passage  in  hand.  Inasmuch 
as  the  meaning  possible  to  a  term  in  any  given  passage  must 
be  one  of  the  meanings  which  were  current  for  that  word  in 
that  period  in  which  the  passage  was  written,  it  is  evident  on 
the  one  hand  that  the  discovery  of  possible,  that  is,  of  current, 
meanings,  must  precede  the  assignment  of  a  meaning  to  a 
given  instance  of  the  term,  and  on  the  other  hand  that  the 
possible  meanings  must  be  determined  by  a  historical  investi- 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  21 1 

gation.  The  latter  is  the  process  which  we  have  already 
described  as  the  task  of  the  lexicographer.  Its  results  are 
embodied  in  lexicons  and  dictionaries.  The  task  of  discover- 
ing which  of  the  several  meanings  of  a  word  historically 
established  to  be  current  the  word  bears  in  a  given  passage 
belongs  to  the  interpreter  as  such.  Only  in  the  case  that  a 
word  had  but  one  meaning  in  the  period  in  which  the  passage 
under  consideration  was  written  do  the  two  processes  merge 
in  one. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  same  principles  hold  in  the  realm  of 
grammatical  relations — grammatical  interpretation  in  the 
narrower  sense  of  the  term — as  in  that  of  meanings  of  words. 
The  grammarian  must  first  determine  the  possible  usages  of  a 
given  form,  and  then  the  interpreter  as  such  must  decide 
which  of  the  relationships  listed  in  the  grammar  corresponds 
to  the  writer's  thought  in  the  passage  under  consideration. 
Thus,  for  example,  before  one  can  decide  in  which  of  the 
various  forces  of  an  aorist  indicative  a  particular  aorist 
indicative  is  used,  he  must  know  in  what  various  ways  verbs 
in  the  aorist  indicative  were  used  in  the  period  in  which  the 
New  Testament  books  were  written. 

One  ordinarily  turns  for  information  of  this  kind  as  concerns 
meanings  of  words  to  a  lexicon,  and  as  pertains  to  meanings 
of  forms  and  syntactical  relations  to  a  grammar.  This  is 
not  because  of  any  divine  right  of  lexicons  and  grammars. 
Any  student  who  has  the  ability,  time,  and  patience  may  be 
his  own  lexicographer  and  grammarian.  But  unless  he  is 
prepared  to  give  himself  to  the  laborious  historical  study  on 
which  lexicons  and  grammars  are  based,  he  must  rely  upon 
the  scholars  who  have  done  this  work  for  him.  But  he  must 
also  be  on  his  guard  to  take  into  account  those  meanings  of 
words  and  those  usages  of  forms  which  were  current  in  the 
period  from  which  the  literature  that  he  is  studying  came,  and 
only  those.  Because  Liddell  and  Scott  assign  to  a  word  a  given 
meaning,  citing  for  it  an  example  in  Homer,  it  does  not  follow 


212         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

that  it  could  have  been  so  used  by  Paul;  nor  does  the  non- 
occurrence in  Plato  or  his  contemporaries  of  a  certain  usage 
of  the  subjunctive  exclude  the  possibility  of  its  occurrence  in 
the  New  Testament. 

But  if  in  the  first  part  of  the  process  of  grammatical  inter- 
pretation, viz.,  the  enumeration  of  possible  meanings  and 
possible  relations,  the  student  is  naturally  dependent  on  the 
lexicon  and  the  grammar,  in  the  second  part,  the  selection 
of  the  actual  meaning  and  the  actual  relation,  he  must,  if  he 
will  be  a  real  interpreter,  assume  a  more  independent  position. 
The  lexicons,  for  example,  and  of  course  the  commentaries, 
frequently  express  an  opinion  as  to  the  meaning  of  a  word  in  a 
given  passage.  But  such  opinion  is  only  incidental  to  the 
proper  task  of  the  lexicon  and  is  of  necessity  subject  to  more 
doubt  than  the  verdict  of  the  lexicon  as  to  possible  meanings. 
The  lexicographer's  opinion  in  his  own  proper  field,  the' 
possible  meanings  of  a  word,  is,  or  should  be,  based  upon  a 
broad  induction  and  the  study  of  many  instances,  and  the 
probability  that  it  is  correct  is  much  greater  than  that  he  is 
right  in  his  interpretation  of  each  individual  passage.  Appeal 
on  the  latter  point  may  therefore  properly  be  taken  by  the 
interpreter  to  the  evidence  itself.  This  evidence  is  to  be 
found  in  the  context — either  the  immediate  context,  which 
is  often  decisive  by  excluding  all  meanings  but  one,  or  the 
broader  context,  which,  by  disclosing  the  general  trend  of  the 
writer's  thought,  guides  one  to  the  meaning  which  he  has  in 
mind  for  the  term  under  examination.  Further  help  may 
be  obtained  from  parallel  passages,  this  term  being  taken  in 
its  broader  sense  as  referring  to  other  passages  in  which  the 
same  writer  has  dealt  with  the  same  or  similar  subjects. 

To  the  meaning  of  a  word  it  is  often  necessary  to  add, 
for  purposes  of  interpretation,  its  reference.  .Many  nouns 
and  even  verbs  are  to  this  extent  like  pronouns.  They  have 
reference  to  persons,  things,  or  acts  which  are  identified, 
not  by  the  meaning  of  the  term,  but  by  the  context.     Such 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  213 

identification  is  as  necessary  to  the  recovery  of  the  writer's 
thought  as  is  the  discovery  of  his  meaning.  Thus,  in  Rom. 
5:12,  "for  that  all  sinned,"  the  problem  of  interpretation  is 
not  only  to  define  the  word  "sinned"  and  the  force  of  its 
tense,  but,  even  more  important,  to  determine  what  event  or 
series  of  events  is  referred  to. 

It  is  also  necessary  in  many  cases  to  discover  what  associ- 
ated ideas  were  conveyed  by  words  in  addition  to  what  may  be 
strictly  called  their  meaning.  Thus  the  words  "publican," 
"Pharisee,"  Sadducee"  in  the  New  Testament  had  each  their 
own  associated  ideas,  and  these  ideas  were  as  much  a  part  of 
the  writer's  thought  in  the  use  of  words  as  the  lexicographical 
definition. 

Altogether  analogous  to  the  process  by  which  one  ascer- 
tains the  meaning  of  a  word  in  a  given  passage  is  that  by  which 
the  grammatical  relations  of  terms  are  determined.  The 
grammarian  lists  the  possible  usages.  The  interpreter  must 
discover,  by  the  study  of  the  context  and  other  like  methods, 
which  of  the  particular  usages  is  in  the  writer's  mind,  in  the 
particular  passage.  Often  the  grammarian  will  incidentally, 
by  citing  a  given  passage  as  an  illustration  of  a  given  usage, 
express  an  opinion  as  to  the  use  of  the  form  in  that  passage. 
But  such  opinions  are,  like  the  similar  verdicts  of  the  lexicog- 
rapher, only  opinions,  not  authoritative  assertions,  and  to  the 
interpreter  as  such  belongs  the  decision. 

b)  Logical  interpretation. — It  might  seem  as  if  with  these 
tasks  accomplished,  viz.,  from  the  possible  meanings  of  the 
various  terms  the  actual  ones  selected  and  from  among  their 
possible  relationships  their  actual  relations  determined,  the 
interpreter's  task  would  be  fully  accomplished.  But  such  is 
far  from  being  the  case.  To  content  one's  self  with  these  re- 
sults, important,  essential,  and  difficult  of  achievement  as  they 
often  are,  would  often  be  to  fall  far  short  of  grasping  the  writer's 
thought,  of  "representing  to  one's  own  mind  the  whole  of 
that  state  of  mind  of  the  author  of  which  the  language  to  be 


214        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

interpreted  was  the  expression."  A  story,  an  essay,  a 
poem,  a  parable,  a  sermon,  is  a  unity,  not  a  collection  of 
disjecta  membra,  nor  can  all  the  relations  of  part  to  part  be 
reduced  to  grammatical  statement.  It  represents  a  continuous 
current  of  thought,  imperfectly  represented  by  the  words 
that  suggest  it  and  therefore  imperfectly  interpreted  by 
definitions  of  words  and  naming  of  grammatical  relationships. 
By  means  of  language  souls  come  into  communion.  The 
ultimate  purpose  of  interpretation,  it  has  well  been  said, 
is  the  communion  of  souls.  But  the  communion  of  souls 
requires  both  expression  and  interpretation,  and  the  thought 
which  by  means  of  language,  expressed  and  interpreted, 
passes  from  soul  to  soul  is  often  conveyed  far  more  by  what 
it  suggests  than  by  what  it  definitely  expresses.  Hence  arises 
the  necessity  that  to  the  process  of  grammatical  interpretation, 
which  deals  with  what  is  expressed  in  words,  there  should  be 
added  a  process  of  logical  interpretation  which  shall  seek  to 
reproduce  the  current  of  thought  in  its  continuity,  the  body  of 
thought  in  its  unity. 

More  specifically  stated,  the  necessity  for  logical  inter- 
pretation arises  from  two  facts  respecting  the  character  of 
human  language:  first,  no  language,  save  possibly  that  of 
mathematical  formulae  and  logical  definitions,  expresses  in 
words  all  the  thought  which  it  is  intended  to  produce,  and 
actually  does  produce,  in  the  hearer's  mind ;  the  language  leaves 
gaps  to  be  filled  by  suggestion ;  secondly,  one  train  of  thought 
is  frequently  employed  to  suggest  another,  the  latter  in  itself 
wholly  different  from  the  former  but  so  related  to  it  that  the 
utterance  of  the  former  begets  the  latter  also.  In  other 
words,  all  men  talk  more  or  less  in  figures  of  speech. 

Corresponding  to  these  two  facts  are  two  great  divisions  of 
logical  interpretation:  the  interpretation  of  literal  language 
and  the  interpretation  of  figurative  language,  the  two  having 
this  in  common,  that  they  both  deal  with  the  reproduction 
of  thought  not  actually  expressed  in  the  written  or  spoken 


THE  STUDY  DF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  215 

word,  and  differing  in  this,  that  the  former  has  to  do  with 
filling  the  gaps  between  words,  the  latter  with  discovering  in 
one  line  of  thought  conveyed  by  the  words  in  their  literal  and 
usual  sense  a  parallel  line  which  it  is  the  writer's  intention 
to  suggest. 

The  methods  of  logical  interpretation  applied  to  hteral 
language  are  by  the  very  nature  of  the  process  itself  sus- 
ceptible of  much  less  exact  definition  than  those  of  gram- 
matical interpretation.  It  must  suffice  here  to  lay  down  a 
few  general  principles. 

(i)  Logical  interpretation  must  presuppose  and  be  pre- 
ceded by  grammatical  interpretation;  links  of  connection 
between  expressed  elements  of  thought  can  be  supplied 
intelligently  only  when  the  expressed  elements  are  them- 
selves correctly  apprehended. 

(2)  The  omitted  elements  of  thought  which  logical  inter- 
pretation must  supply  in  order  to  recover  the  continuous  cur- 
rent of  thought  may  vary  all  the  way  from  a  more  exact 
definition  of  relationship  between  terms  than  can  be  deter- 
mined grammatically,  to  a  whole  sentence,  expressing  a  fact 
taken  for  granted  in  discussion,  and  necessary  to  continuity 
of  thought,  but  left  unstated  because  already  present  to  the 
mind  of  speaker  and  hearer. 

(3)  The  element  of  thought  to  be  supplied  must  always 
be  something  contained  in  the  mental  possessions  of  the 
speaker  or  writer  and  believed  by  him  to  be  in  possession 
of  those  to  whom  he  speaks  or  writes.  The  writer  can  leave 
to  be  supplied  only  what  he  knows,  and  assumes  that  his 
reader  knows.  The  process  of  logical  interpretation  demands, 
therefore,  an  acquaintance  as  full  as  possible  with  the  ideas 
common  to  the  writer  and  originally  intended  reader.  These 
are  of  course  largely  the  ideas  current  in  their  age  and  environ- 
ment. It  is  just  at  this  point  that  New  Testament  interpre- 
tation is  making  greatest  progress  today,  in  the  recovery  of  the 
thought  and  life  of  the  age  in  which  Christianity  was  born. 


2i6        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

(4)  The  element  to  be  supplied  must  be  so  connected  with 
what  is  expressed  that  the  latter  rnay  be  expected  to  suggest 
the  former.  The  writer  cannot  assume  that  his  reader  will 
think  of  things  in  no  way  associated  with  what  he  puts  into 
words. 

(5)  From  material  reasonably  believed  to  be  the  conmion 
property  of  the  writer  and  the  originally  intended  reader, 
and  germane  to  the  subject  in  hand,  the  exegetical  imagination 
must  construct  hypothetical  bridges  to  cover  the  gaps  left 
between  the  expressed  elements. 

(6)  Such  hypothetical  bridges  must  be  rigidly  tested  to  see 
whether  the  suggestion  gives  continuity  and  logical  consistency 
to  the  discourse,  and  whether  the  resulting  course  of  thought 
is  of  such  character  that  it  can  reasonably  be  attributed  to  the 
writer.  That  connection  which  best  stands  these  tests  may 
then  be  accepted  as  most  probably  representing  the  thought 
as  it  lay  in  the  mind  of  the  writer. 

But  if  the  formulation  of  rules  or  principles  applicable  to 
the  interpretation  of  literal  language  is  difficult  and  necessarily 
inadequate,  much  more  is  this  the  case  in  respect  to  figurative 
language.  No  attempt  can  be  made  here  to  classify  the 
various  types  and  forms  of  figurative  language  or  to  formulate 
the  specific  principles  of  interpretation  that  apply  to  meta- 
phors, parables,  and  allegories.  It  must  suffice  to  reiterate 
two  general  principles:  first,  interpretation  aims  to  reproduce 
the  writer's  thought,  not  some  other  meaning  which  may  be 
supposed  in  some  more  or  less  arbitrary  way  to  belong  to  the 
words;  secondly,  it  is  a  characteristic  of  human  language 
generally  that,  habitually  conveying  more  thought  than  it 
actually  expresses,  it  often  does  this  through  the  medium  of  a 
course  of  thought  wholly  distinct  from  that  which  is  directly 
expressed  though  parallel  to  it;  through  an  induced  current, 
so  to  speak. 

The  task  of  the  interpreter,  therefore,  is  by  no  means 
limited  to  finding  out  the  meanings  of  words,  however  neces- 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  217 

sary  this  may  be  as  a  part  of  his  task,  but  requires  him  to 
reproduce  the  state  of  mind  of  his  author  and  to  pass  through 
— or,  more  exactly,  to  perceive — the  mental  experience 
which  the  words  of  the  author  were  intended  to  generate. 
In  other  words,  the  interpreter  must  neither  include  in  his 
result  things  which  the  author's  language  suggests  to  his  mind, 
but  which  the  author  did  not  have  in  mind,  nor,  by  limiting 
himself  to  merely  lexicographical  and  grammatical  processes, 
exclude  any  thought  which  the  author  intended  to  generate. 

The  whole  process  of  interpretation  is  therefore  reproduc- 
tive. Only  when  the  interpreter  as  he  reads  lives  through 
the  mental  experience  which  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  poem, 
the  sermon,  or  the  story  to  produce,  only  when  he  perceives  in 
its  entirety  what  the  author  saw  before  his  vision  as  he  wrote 
and  intended  his  reader  to  see  as  he  heard  or  read,  has  he 
achieved  his  purpose  as  interpreter.  Successful  interpretation, 
always  reproductive,  is  as  applied  to  ancient  writings  a  process 
of  resurrection  and  recreation. 

c)  Application  of  the  process  of  interpretation  to  the  New 
Testament  hooks. — It  is  to  such  a  process  as  this  that  it  is  the 
task  of  the  New  Testament  interpreter  to  subject  all  the 
literature  from  which  he  can  derive  material  for  the  recon- 
struction of  the  early  history  of  Christianity.  Pre-eminent 
among  this  literature  for  his  purpose  are  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament.  Each  of  these  represented  a  certain  mental 
process  and  possession  in  the  writer's  mind  which  it  was  his 
purpose  to  reproduce  in  his  hearer's  mind.  By  its  every  word 
and  construction  it  conveys  some  elements  of  that  mental-* 
process.  But  its  total  thought  is  more  than  the  meanings  of 
words  and  the  significance  of  construction.  In  its  onward 
movement  it  is  comparable  to  a  stream,  which  one  sees  through 
a  series  of  windows,  not  all  of  it  visible  to  the  eyes,  but  repro- 
ducible in  its  continuity  by  the  mind,  which,  from  that  which 
is  visible,  reproduces  the  whole.  In  its  totality  it  is  com- 
parable  to  a  building,   of  which  one  gains  knowledge  by 


21 8        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

observation  of  its  several  parts  and  constituents,  but  whose 
beauty  and  whose  meaning  as  a  representation  of  the  archi- 
tect's idea  are  something  far  more  than  the  added-up  result 
of  one's  observation  of  its  parts. 

The  task  of  the  interpreter  calls  for  careful  study  of  words 
and  constructions,  phrase  by  phrase,  sentence  by  sentence, 
paragraph  by  paragraph,  for  careful  tracing  out  of  the  course 
of  thought  in  its  continuity,  and  for  the  reproduction  of  that 
mental  picture  which  lay  before  the  writer's  mind  when  he 
had  finished  his  book,  if  not,  also  in  a  measure  before  he 
began  it. 

d)  Use  of  the  original  or  of  translation  in  interpretation. — As 
already  indicated,  the  work  of  interpretation  is  obviously  best 
performed  on  the  basis  of  the  original  text  of  the  books,  since 
only  on  this  basis  can  the  interpreter  study  the  actual  words 
and  constructions  by  which  the  author  expressed  his  thought. 
Yet  much  can  be  done  on  the  basis  of  a  good  translation,  it 
being  as  a  rule  only  the  finer  shades  of  meaning  that  are  missed 
by  the  student  of  an  English  translation.  The  greatest  lack 
of  such  a  student  is  an  Enghsh  dictionary  of  the  words  of  the 
New  Testament.  With  this  supplied,  as  it  is  to  be  hoped  it 
will  be  some  day,  his  handicap  as  compared  with  the  Greek 
student  would  be  greatly  reduced.  Such  as  it  is,  it  should  be 
overcome  as  far  as  possible  by  a  diligent  effort  to  reproduce 
the  atmosphere  in  which  the  book  was  produced  and  by 
repeated  attentive  readings  of  the  book  in  the  consciousness 
of  that  atmosphere.  By  these  means  the  student  of  the 
Enghsh  translation  may  arrive  at  a  good  understanding  of 
the  great  ideas  of  his  author  and  the  total  significance  of  his 
book,  which  will  be  of  greater  value  than  that  which  the  stu- 
dent of  the  Greek  achieves  by  minute  study  if  he  neglect  the 
larger  matters  of  contemporary  thought,  general  purpose, 
and  sweep  of  thought. 

Literature. — Of  thoroughly  satisfactory  treatises  on  interpretation 
there  are  very  few.     The  following  are  among  the  best  available:  J.  A. 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  219 

Ernesti,  Principles  of  Biblical  Interpretation,  English  translation  of  the 
Institutio  Interpretis  by  Charles  H.  Terrot  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1843; 
by  Moses  Stuart,  Andover:  Draper,  1842);  A.  Immer,  Hermeneutics 
of  the  New  Testament,  translated  by  A.  H.  Newman  (Andover:  Draper, 
1877) ;  M.  S.  Terry,  Biblical  Hermeneutics,  2d  ed.  (New  York:  Phillips  & 
Hunjt,  1883) ;  F.  W.  Farrar,  History  of  Interpretation  (New  York:  Dutton, 
1886);  G.  H.  Gilbert,  Interpretation  of  the  Bible  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
1908) ;  H.  S.  Nash,  History  of  the  Higher  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament 
(New  York:   Macmillan,  1903). 

Of  modern  commentaries  on  the  New  Testament  the  best  in  general 
for  the  student  who  knows  Greek,  but  does  not  use  German  easily,  are: 
International  Critical  Commentary,  edited  by  C.  A.  Briggs,  S.  R.  Driver, 
and  Alfred  Plummer  (New  York:  Scribner,  1895-);  The  Expositor's 
Greek  Testament,  edited  by  W.  R.  NicoU,  4  vols.  (New  York:  Dodd, 
Mead  &  Co.,  1897-). 

To  these  are  to  be  added  many  volumes  on  single  books  or  groups  of 
books,  among  which  the  following  are  important:  C.  G.  Montefiore,  The 
Synoptic  Gospels,  2  vols.  (London:  Macmillan,  1909);  Plummer,  An 
Exegetical  Commentary  on  the  Gospel  according  to  St.  Matthew  (New 
York:  Scribner,  1909);  H.  B.  Swete,  The  Gospel  according  to  St.  Mark 
(London:  Macmillan,  1902);  Allan  Menzies,  The  Earliest  Gospel 
[Mark]  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1901);  F.  Godet,  Commentary  on  the 
Gospel  of  St.  Luke,  2  vols.  (Edinburgh:  Clark);  Commentary  on  the 
Gospel  of  St.  John,  3  vols.  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1883);  B.  F.  Westcott, 
"St.  John's  Gospel,"  Bible  Commentary  (New  York:  Scribner,  1891); 
J.  B.  Lightfoot,  St.  PaiiVs  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  nth  ed.  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1905);  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Philipplans,  9th  ed.  (New 
York:  Macmillan,  1891);  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  and^to  Phile- 
mon (New  York:  Macmillan,  1904);  T.  C.  Edwards,  Commentary  on  the 
First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  (New  York:  Doran,  1897) ;  J.  A.  Robinson, 
St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  (NewYork:  Macmillan,  1903);  George 
Milligan,  St.  Paul's  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
1908);  B.  F.  Westcott,  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (NewYork:  Macmillan, 
1906);  J.  B.  Mayor,  The  Epistle  of  St.  James  (New  York:  Mac- 
millan, 1910);  B.  F.  Westcott,  The  Epistles  of  St.  John  (NewYork: 
Macmillan,  1892);  H.  B.  Swete,  The  Apocalypse  of  St.  John  (New 
York:   Macmillan,  1907). 

For  the  student  who  reads  German  the  following  are  specially  to  be 
commended:  H.  A.  W.  Meyer,  Kritisch-cxcgctischcr  Kommcntar  ilber  das 
Neue  Testament,  revised  by  Bernhard  Weiss  and  others,  18  vols.  (Got- 
tingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1910-);   Johannes  Weiss  (editor), 


2  20        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Die  Schriften  des  Neuen  Testaments,  2  vols.  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck 
und  Ruprecht,  1907);  H.  Lietzmann  (editor),  Handhuch  zum  Neuen 
Testament,  5  vols.  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1907-11);  T.  Zahn,  Kommentar 
zum  Neuen  Testament  (Leipzig:    Deichert,   1905-). 

For  the  student  who  reads  neither  Greek  nor  German  the  following 
series  are  specially  commended:  Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools  and  Colleges 
(Cambridge:  University  Press,  1877-96);  New  Century  Bible  (New 
York:  Frowde,  1899-1904);  Bible  for  Home  and  School,  edited  by 
Shailer  Mathews  (New  York:   Macmillan,  1908-). 

For  fuller  lists  of  commentaries  and  other  modem  literature  on  the 
New  Testament  see  C.  W.  Votaw,  "Books  for  New  Testament  Study," 
Biblical  World,  XXXVII  (May,  191 1). 

II.      THE   HISTORY    OF    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT   IN   THE 
CHRISTIAN   CHURCH 

I.  History  of  interpretation  and  criticism. — a)  Ancient 
interpretation  generally  allegorical. — ^The  Pharisees  had  believed 
the  Law  of  Moses  to  be  verbally  inspired  and  the  Hellenistic 
Jews  had  extended  this  predicate  to  the  whole  of  their  scrip- 
tures, which  included  all  the  Hebrew  Bible  and  much  more 
beside.  As  thus  inspired  the  divine  word  must,  it  was 
thought,  be  in  all  its  parts  capable  of  religious  edification. 
This  idea  is  very  clearly  put  in  II  Timothy:  "Every  scrip- 
ture inspired  of  God  is  also  profitable  for  teaching,  for  reproof, 
for  correction,  for  instruction  which  is  in  righteousness." 
This  was  precisely  the  view  of  the  Jews  of  the  Graeco-Roman 
world  about  the  Jewish  scriptures. 

But  many  passages  of  these  writings  did  not,  when  taken 
literally,  yield  any  such  moral  instruction,  and  pious  Jews 
were  carried  along  by  their  own  principle  to  an  allegorical 
treatment  of  them,  by  which  the  most  unpromising  narra- 
tive or  ordinance  could  be  made  to  serve  the  purposes  of 
religion.  It  did  not  matter  that  the  allegorical  interpreter 
extracted  from  his  text  only  what  he  had  previously  put  into 
it.  The  dogma  was  satisfied.  This  way  of  using  the  Old 
Testament  is  familiarly  exemplified  in  the  writings  of  Philo 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  221 

of  Alexandria.  Paul  occasionally  falls  back  into  it,  and  the 
writer  to  the  Hebrews  habitually  employs  it. 

Growing  up  under  the  shadow  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
coming  at  length  to  share  its  position  of  scriptural  authority, 
the  New  Testament  shared  also  in  the  allegorical  treatment 
it  received.  From  the  time  the  New  Testament  books  began 
to  be  regarded  as  Scripture  we  find  Irenaeus  and  Origen 
treating  them  allegorically,  and  finding  in  them  types  and 
figures  of  spiritual  need  and  remedy. 

The  scholars  of  Antioch,  it  is  true,  kept  themselves  free 
from  this  fallacious  and  illusory  method  of  using  Scripture 
and  practiced  the  Hteral  interpretation  of  the  New  Testament, 
which  John  Chrysostom,  their  greatest  preacher,  conspicu- 
ously exemplified.  But  except  for  an  occasional  figure  like 
Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  the  allegorical  method,  under  the 
influence  of  the  scholars  and  teachers  of  Alexandria,  pre- 
vailed in  the  early  church. 

b)  Eclipse  of  ancient  criticism. — The  collection  of  the  New 
Testament  writings  into  a  sacred  and  authoritative  canon 
incidentally  removed  them  from  the  reach  of  criticism,  that  is, 
critical  inquiry  into  their  authenticity  and  historical  char- 
aracter.  But  ancient  Christianity  was  not  altogether  un- 
conscious of  critical  doubts  and  critical  method.  Julius 
Africanus,  the  friend  of  Origen,  wrote  him  a  very  acute  letter 
as  to  the  History  of  Susanna,  pointing  out  certain  very  cogent 
critical  difficulties  about  supposing  Daniel  to  have  made  in 
Hebrew  the  plays  upon  Greek  words  with  which  that  book 
credits  him.  Susanna  was  part  of  the  Greek  Old  Testament, 
and  Africanus  was  engaged  in  biblical  criticism.  Origen's 
reply  failed  to  meet  his  argument,  and  shows  how  far  the 
greatest  Alexandrians  were  from  the  historical  method.  But 
a  little  later  another  Alexandrian,  Dionysius,  showed  critical 
interest  and  acumen  when  he  pointed  out  that  the  Revela- 
tion differed  markedly  from  the  Fourth  Gospel  in  both 
literary  style  and  general  tenor.     But  the  general  belief  in  the 


222         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  brought  with  it  the  idea  of  the 
infallibihty  of  Scripture,  and  the  sporadic  critical  impulses 
of  antiquity  went  down  before  this  formidable  combination. 
When  the  Catholic  church  added  to  these  the  authoritative 
interpretation  of  Scripture,  criticism  was  completely  halted, 
and  so  continued  for  a  thousand  years. 

c)  Modern  revival  of  criticism. — It  was  just  this  authorita- 
tive interpretation,  however,  that  in  the  end  opened  the 
way  for  the  revival  of  criticism.  For  over  against  Christian 
Scripture  there  grew  up  the  Catholic  tradition,  and  at  length 
the  disparity  between  the  two  became  too  great.  The 
Protestant  Reformation  resulted.  Two  centuries  later  the 
critical  movement  stirring  since  the  Renaissance  reached  a 
climax,  and  criticism  began  to  be  definitely  applied  to  the 
New  Testament. 

It  was  the  text  that  first  felt  the  touch  of  criticism. 
Richard  SLgion  (ti7i2)  began  the  critical  study  of  the  New 
Testament  text,  and  Semler  (born  1725)  carried  it  on.  But 
Semler  went  beyond  the  Catholic  scholar  in  this,  that  under 
the  influence  of  his  classical  and  historical  studies  he  applied 
his  criticism  not  simply  to  the  New  Testament  text  but  as 
well  to  the  New  Testament  canon,  the  origin  of  which  he 
sought  freely  to  investigate.  Semler  saw  that  in  order  to 
interpret  the  New  Testament  it  must  be  historically  under- 
stood, each  document  in  it  being  interpreted  in  the  hght  of 
the  circumstances  which  called  it  forth  and  which  it  was  in- 
tended to  meet.  In  Semler  we  see  the  transition  from  the 
lower  (textual)  to  the  higher  (Kterary  and  historical)  criticism. 

One  of  the  first  problems  to  emerge  in  this  new  study  was 
the  synoptic  problem — that  is,  the  question  of  the  literary 
relationships  of  the  first  three  gospels.  Investigation  of  the 
authorship  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  and  of  the  Pastoral  Epistles 
soon  followed.  But  with  1835  a  new  unity  begins  to  per- 
vade these  detached  and  generally  negative  studies.  It  was 
no  longer  enough  to  show  that  Paul  did  not  write  the  Pastorals 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  223 

or  John  the  Fourth  Gospel.  It  was  seen  that,  whoever  did 
or  did  not  write  these  books,  they  had  possessed  great  influ- 
ence and  worth  and  had  functioned  importantly  in  the  world 
for  which  they  were  written,  and  that  even  a  non-apostohc 
writing  might  have  great  human  significance  and  worth. 
With  Baur  and  Strauss  criticism  became  a  constructive 
method.  In  this  rather  than  in  their  extreme  results  lay  their 
contribution  to  critical  study.  Their  work  has  been  modified 
and  corrected  by  the  influence  of  the  followers  of  Schleier- 
macher  (11834),  Ritschl  (1822-89),  and  others. 

d)  Historical  interpretation. — It  will  be  seen  that  it  is 
criticism  that  has  opened  the  way  for  the  historical  inter- 
pretation of  the  New  Testament.  The  New  Testament  is 
no  longer  interpreted  as  a  book  apart,  but  as  having  arisen 
in  the  closest  possible  human  relationships.  While  the 
authoritative  Catholic  interpretation  assimied  the  agreement 
of  the  various  writers  with  one  another,  the  historical  method 
is  prepared  to  recognize  disagreements  where  they  exist.  In 
other  words,  each  New  Testament  author  is  guaranteed  the 
right  to  speak  as  he  sees  fit,  not  warped  into  a  rigid  and  minute 
conformity  to  the  other  authors  of  the  New  Testament. 
Moreover,  the  sources  of  the  documents  and  the  literary 
methods  which  some  of  the  writers  employed  are  to  be 
studied  with  the  same  diligence  and  freedom  as  are  applied 
to  any  other  historical  documents,  in  order  that  our  knowledge 
of  the  New  Testament  may  be  as  sound  and  trustworthy  as 
earnest  and  intelligent  inquiry  can  make  it. 

Literature. — F.  H.  Farrar,  History  of  Interpretation  (London:  Mac- 
millan,  1886).  G.  H.  Gilbert,  A  Short  History  of  the  Interpretation  of  the 
Bible  (New  York:  Macmillan,igo8),  is  a  compact  and  useful  sketch  for 
the  general  reader.  H.  S.  Nash,  A  History  of  the  Higher  Criticism  of  the 
New  Testament  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1903),  explains  to  the  general 
reader  how  criticism  became  necessary  and  possible  and  how  it  came 
to  be  actually  applied  to  the  New  Testament  writings.  C.  A.  Briggs, 
A  General  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Holy  Scripture  (New  York: 
Scribner  1899),  is  a  large  work,  well  informed  and  readable,  by  one  who 
did  much  to  advance  the  critical  understanding  of  the  Old  Testament. 


224        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

2.  History  of  the  Canon. — a)  Problems  presented  by  the 
appearance  of  the  New  Testament. — The  best  and  earliest 
Christian  writings  were  composed  at  various  times  and  places 
to  meet  the  specific  demands  of  definite  historical  situations. 
Their  writers  with  one  exception  claimed  for  them  no  such 
authority  as  Old  Testament  Scripture  possessed.  How  did  it 
come  about  that  they  were  afterward  collected  into  a  sacred 
canon?  The  primitive  church  acknowledged  the  inward 
authority  of  the  spirit  in  the  heart.  They  esteemed  this  above 
any  written  word.  "The  letter  killeth,  the  spirit  giveth  Hfe." 
Why  did  they  so  soon  appeal  to  a  new  Scripture  ? 

What  was  the  purpose  of  the  collection  ?  Was  it  to 
supply  historical  material  on  Christian  origins,  or  devotional 
works  for  church'  use,  or  manuals  of  church  life  and  manage- 
ment, or  literature  for  missionary  propaganda?  Was  it  to 
complete  the  Old  Testament  as  a  companion  volume  or 
to  compete  with  it  as  a  modern  substitute  ? 

How  did  these  books  come  to  be  collected?  Their 
writers  did  not  intend  them  for  such  a  purpose.  Was  it  an 
unconscious  automatic  movement,  by  which  without  human 
contrivance  these  books  and  no  others  found  each  other  amid 
the  Christian  writings  of  the  first  two  centuries  and  clung 
together?  Who  invented  the  New  Testament?  Did  Mar- 
cion,  the  first  man  to  put  out  any  considerable  collection  of 
Paul's  letters  ?  Or  Justin,  the  first  one  to  show  acquaintance 
with  four  gospels  ?  Was  it  the  church  at  Antioch,  or  Ephesus, 
or  Alexandria,  or- Rome?  Or  did  each  of  these  have  a  share 
in  the  process  ? 

Not  only  the  concept  but  the  content  of  this  New  Testa- 
ment provokes  inquiry.  Upon  what  principle  was  it  made 
up  ?  Was  it  supposed  to  include  apostolic  writings  only  and 
all  the  apostolic  writings  ?  Was  the  test  authorship,  or  age, 
or  edification  ? 

The  presence  of  four  gospels  raises  a  question.  "  Why  four 
instead  of  one,  or  five  ?    There  were  other  gospels  and  among 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  225 

these  four  the  early  church  had  its  favorite  gospel,  the  one 
known  to  us  as  Matthew's.  How  comes  it  that  the  New 
Testament  includes  and  co-ordinates  four  such  narratives, 
although  on  some  matters  they  very  definitely  disagree  ? 

b)  Variety  among  ancient  New  Testaments. — Even  after 
the  early  churches  had  become  accustomed  to  the  idea  of  a 
Christian  Scripture,  there  was  evidently  much  uncertainty 
as  to  what  particular  books  belonged  in  the  collection  which 
they  named  the  New  Testament.  In  Alexandria  the  Epistle 
of  Clement,  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  and  the  Teaching  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles  were  regarded  as  Scripture  by  some  very 
intelHgent  men.  In  Rome  the  Revelation  of  Peter  seems  to 
have  been  so  esteemed.  But  in  Syria  not  even  the  Revela- 
tion of  John  was  accepted  as  part  of  the  New  Testament. 
The  Syrian  church  indeed  long  admitted  only  twenty-two 
books  to  its  New  Testament,  omitting  II  Peter,  Jude,  and 
II  and  III  John.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Syrian  church, 
at  one  stage  iti  its  history,  accepted  III  Corinthians  as  canon- 
ical. The  Roman  church  long  excluded  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  from  the  New  Testament.  As  late  as  the  fourth 
century  individual  Christian  leaders  in  Asia  Minor  excepted 
from  their  New  Testament  various  minor  epistles  which  we 
find  in  our  New  Testament,  and  even  the  Revelation  of 
John.  Some  of  our  earliest  Greek  manuscripts  of  the  Bible 
(Sinaiticus,  Alexandrinus)  include  as  part  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment such  books  as  I  and  II  Clement,  Hermas,  and  Barnabas. 

Out  of  this  ancient  confusion  when  did  our  New  Testament 
emerge  in  clear  and  definite  form  ?  What  conditions  and 
considerations  determined  its  final  form,  and  who  was  respon- 
sible for  it  ?     How  far  are  those  considerations  vahd  today  ? 

These  questions  have  a  definite  bearing  upon  our  con- 
ception of  the  New  Testament  and  upon  its  proper  place  in 
modem  religious  Hfe.     How  shall  they  be  answered  ? 

c)  Historical  approach  to  the  problem. — The  New  Testament 
is  evidently  in  some  sense  the  companion  of  the  Old.    Whether 


226        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

it  arose  as  supplement  or  as  substitute,  the  Old  Testament  is 
its  parent  and  its  explanation.  We  must  inquire  what  was 
thought  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures  by  the  Jewish  people  of  the 
first  century  and  how  Jesus  and  his  first  followers  regarded 
them.  To  what  extent  did  they  regard  the  Old  Testament  as 
authoritative  ?  We  must  ask  further  what  other  authorities 
the  first  Christians  recognized  and  what  the  earHest  Chris- 
tian writers  thought  about  their  own  authority.  We  must 
trace  these  ideas  of  inward  and  of  outward  authorities  through 
the  meager  remains  of  early  Christian  Hterature  into  the 
fuller  stream  which  develops  in  the  time  of  Irenaeus  and 
Tertullian.  We  must  observe  how  the  phrase  New  Covenant 
or  New  Testament,  first  used  by  Jeremiah,  and  quoted  more 
than  once  in  the  New  Testament,  came  to  assume  a  literary 
sense  and  to  be  used  of  the  collection  of  books  in  which  that 
New  Covenant  was  set  forth.  We  must  find  out  what 
Christian  writings  were  first  esteemed  equal  in  authority  to 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  and  to  what  they  owed  this 
preferment.  We  must  see  what  part  prophets  and  apostles 
played  in  this  development  and  try  to  appreciate  the  situation 
of  the  primitive  churches,  scattered,  unrelated,  and  not 
highly  intelligent,  when  the  gifted  and  enthusiastic  party 
leaders  of  the  second  century  began  to  move  among  them  with 
energy,  eloquence,  and  fervor. 

d)  The  rise  of  the  New  Testament. — ^We  must  study  the 
rise  of  the  Cathohc  church,  which  sought  to  unify  and  relate 
these  scattered  religious  units  and  recall  them  to  what  it 
deemed  the  primitive  type  of  Christian  teaching.  We  shall 
observe  the  different  ways  in  which  the  several  leading  centers 
of  Christianity,  Antioch,  Alexandria,  Rome,  contributed  to 
this  movement,  and  the  different  lists  of  Christian  writings, 
which  the  different  districts  saw  fit  to  canonize  by  reading 
from  them  publicly  in  Christian  worship.  While  Syria  lags 
behind  in  canon-building  and  Alexandria,  with  its  encyclopedic 
writers,  forges  ahead,  Rome  occupies  a  middle  ground.     We 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  227 

shall  find  Eusebius,  perhaps  the  most  intelligent  Christian 
of  his  time,  uncertain  as  to  precisely  what  books  ought  to  be 
included  in  the  New  Testament  and  content  to  reproduce 
Origen's  classification  of  them  into  accepted,  rejected,  and 
disputed  books.  Not  until  the  festal  letter  of  Athanasius  in 
the  year  367  shall  we  find  the  fist  of  books  which  we  have 
in  our  New  Testament  anywhere  set  forth  without  addition 
or  omission.  Councils  later  indorsed  this  list,  but  centuries 
more  elapsed  before  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches  unani- 
mously concurred  in  it.  Meantime  the  Syrian  church  clung  to 
its  limited  canon  of  twenty- two  books  and  the  Armenian  church 
shared  its  opposition  to  the  Book  of  Revelation  and  the  lesser 
Catholic  epistles  (II  Peter,  II,  III  John,  Jude),  while  the 
Ethiopic  or  Abyssinian  church  on  the  other  hand  developed 
a  fuller  canon  than  Western  Christianity  had  done,  including 
eight  or  nine  writings  unknown  to  the  Western  canon. 

The  New  Testament  in  modern  times. — An  occasional 
Latin  manuscript,  it  is  true,  included  the  spurious  httle 
Epistle  to  the  Laodiceans  in  the  Vulgate  New  Testament, 
but  there  was  general  unanimity  in  the  West  as  to  the  con- 
tents of  the  New  Testament  when  the  invention  of  printing 
made  possible  the  general  circulation  of  the  whole  collection 
in  a  single  volume.  But  this  had  hardly  taken  place  when 
the  critical  views  of  certain  reformers  began  to  threaten  the 
position  of  minor  documents  such  as  James.  Other  reformers 
like  Calvin  set  forth  a  very  rigorous  doctrine  of  Scripture,  and 
on  the  whole  the  Reformation  tended  to  confirm  and  enhance 
the  authority  of  the  canonized  New  Testament.  The  spirit 
of  criticism,  however,  awakened  in  the  Renaissance,  at  length 
took  up  the  canon's  claim  to  unique  authority.  The  effects 
of  that  inquiry  constitute  the  latest  chapter  in  the  history 
of  the  New  Testament.  Under  its  influence  we  are  today 
perhaps  nearer  to  the  primitive  Christian  conception  of  the 
basis  of  authority  in  religion  than  the  church  has  been  for 
many  centuries. 


/ 
228        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

On  the  whole,  no  discipline  connected  with  New  Testament 
study  is  more  illuminating  and  emancipating  than  the  study  of 
the  history  of  the  New  Testament  canon. 

Literature. — B.  F.  Westcott,  A  General  Survey  of  the  History  of  the 
Canon  of  the  New  Testament,  7th  ed.  (London:  Macmillan,  1896);  C.  R. 
Gregory,  The  Canon  and  Text  of  the  New  Testament  (New  York:  Scribner, 
1907),  both  standard  descriptive  treatments,  not  always  alive  to  the 
great  problems  of  the  canon's  history;  A.  Souter,  The  Text  and  Canon  of 
the  New  Testament  (New  York:  Scribner,  1913),  a  condensed  presenta- 
tion of  the  main  facts,  for  the  general  reader;  E.  C.  Moore,  The  New 
Testament  in  the  Christian  Church  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1904),  a 
comprehensive  and  scholarly  presentation  of  the  history  of  the  New 
Testament,  for  the  general  reader;  T.  Zahn,  Geschichte  des  neutesta- 
mentlichen  Kanons,  2  vols.  (Leipzig:  Deichert,  1888-92),  valuable  for  its 
collection  and  investigation  of  materials  rather  than  for  its  deductions; 
Grundriss  der  Geschichte  des  neutestamentlichen  Kanons  (Leipzig :  Deichert, 
1901),  a  concise  summary  of  the  conclusions  of  Zahn's  larger  work; 
J.  Leipoldt,  Geschichte  des  neutestamentlichen  Kanons,  2  vols.  (Leipzig: 
Hinrichs,  1907-8),  an  excellent  modern  treatment,  only  deficient  in 
clearness  of  arrangement ;  A.  Harnack,  Die  Entstehung  des  Neuen  Testa- 
ments (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1914),  a  timely  and  incisive  sketch  of  the 
causes  and  effects  of  the  making  of  the  New  Testament;  E.  Jacquier,  Le 
nouveau  Testament  dans  I'Eglise  Chretienne,  Vol.  I  (Paris:  Lecoffre,  1911), 
clear,  fair,  and  intelligent  in  its  presentation  of  evidence  and  opinion, 
but  dogmatically  controlled  in  its  conclusions. 

III.   THE  USE  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  TODAY 

It  was  suggested  in  the  introduction  to  this  chapter 
(p.  165)  that  the  ultimate  aim  of  all  New  Testament  study  is 
the  enrichment  of  human  life,  and  of  course  specifically  in 
those  aspects  of  life  which  we  commonly  include  under  the 
terms  "moral"  and  "religious."  This  discussion  ought  not 
to  close,  therefore,  without  a  few  words  concerning  the  uses 
of  the  New  Testament  by  modern  men.  We  may  distinguish 
four  such  uses. 

I.  For  the  purposes  of  history, — On  this  point  little  need 
be  added  to  what  was  said  in  the  introduction,  pp.  165  ff. 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  229 

As  pointed  out  there,  the  employment  of  the  results  of  the 
interpretative  and  critical  processes  in  constructive  historical 
work  is  within  the  field  of  New  Testament  study,  but  in  this 
volume  is  dealt  with  mainly  in  chapter  v.  It  calls,  therefore, 
for  no  extended  discussion  at  this  point.  All  history  must  be 
written  on  the  basis  of  records  of  the  past  of  one  sort  or 
another.  All  such  records  must  be  interpreted,  i.e.,  their 
meaning  must  be  discovered,  in  order  that  they  may  be  avail- 
able for  the  purposes  of  the  historian.  If  these  records  con- 
sist of  written  statements — ^literature  in  the  most  inclusive 
use  of  the  term — the  immediate  product  of  the  process  of 
interpretation  is,  as  already  pointed  out,  the  thought  of  the 
writer.  This  thought  is  itself  a  historic  fact  of  prime  impor- 
tance for  the  historian.  From  such  data  the  history  of 
thought  is  constructed,  and  of  all  history  none  is  more  impor- 
tant than  the  history  of  thought.  It  was  the  recognition  of 
the  importance  of  the  history  of  thought  that  led  in  the  last 
century  to  the  development  of  biblical  theology  as  a  distinct 
division  of  the  field  of  biblical  study.  For  biblical  theology, 
as  it  is  understood  in  modern  times,  is  simply  the  history  of 
reHgious  thinking  in  Israel  and  the  early  Christian  church  in  so 
far  as  that  history  can  be  traced  in  the  books  of  the  Bible.  If 
eventually  this  discipline  shall  disappear  again  from  the  field 
of  theological  study,  it  will  be  because  it  is  recognized  on  the 
one  hand  that  the  history  of  thought  cannot  profitably  be 
separated  from  that  of  the  other  aspects  of  life,  and  on  the 
other  that  the  thought  of  which  the  books  of  the  Bible  bear 
witness  cannot  be  separated  from  the  life  of  the  period  of  which 
we  have  evidence  in  extra-biblical  literature. 

Meantime  it  is  beyond  all  question  clear  that  the  bibhcal 
historian,  whether  dealing  with  thought  or  external  event, 
must  do  his  work  genetically.  In  other  words,  he  must  not 
only  set  forth  facts,  but  must  set  these  facts  in  relation,  associ- 
ating them  with  their  antecedent  types  of  thought  and  showing 
their  relation  to  later  developments. 


230        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 


But  whether  we  are  dealing  with  the  history  of  thought  or 
of  event,  in  order  that  the  data  yielded  by  interpretation  may 
take  their  proper  place  in  the  completed  history,  the  authors 
must  be  dated  and  located  as  exactly  as  possible,  and,  if 
possible,  identified.  That  certain  opinions  were  once  held 
is  a  fact  of  Httle  value  to  the  historian  unless  he  can  with  some 
measure  of  approximation  determine  when,  where,  and  by 
whom  they  were  held.  Hence  the  necessity  of  literary  criti- 
cism to  determine  authorship,  date,  and  location,  not  only  as  a 
preliminary  and  aid  to  interpretation,  but  also  as  an  indis- 
pensable condition  of  the  use  of  its  results  by  the  historian. 

Whether  to  this  process  by  which  the  history  of  opinions 
is  discovered  it  is  necessary  to  add  a  work  of  criticism  in  order 
to  determine  the  correctness  of  the  opinions,  depends,  from  the 
historian's  point  of  view,  on  the  character  of  the  opinions. 
With  the  correctness  of  Paul's  opinions  on  matters  of  theology 
and  morals  the  historian  as  such  is  not  concerned.  That 
Paul  held  them,  itself  makes  them  data  for  the  history  of 
opinion,  i.e.,  for  biblical  theology.  But  when  the  matters 
on  which  statements  are  made  are  themselves  matters  of 
history,  as,  for  example,  when  Luke  affirms  that  Jesus  was 
born  when  Quirinus  was  governor  of  Syria,  or  that  Paul 
preached  in  the  synagogue  of  Thessalonica  for  three  Sabbaths, 
to  the  work  of  interpretation  there  must  be  added  a  further 
process  in  order  to  ascertain  not  only  that  Luke  thought  thus 
and  so,  but  also  what  the  historic  fact  was.  For  this  purpose 
all  the  available  evidence,  whether  found  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, or  on  ancient  monuments,  or  in  the  writings  of  Greek  or 
Roman  historians,  must  be  brought  to  bear,  testimony  com- 
pared with  testimony,  and  that  finally  accepted  as  fact  which, 
so  accepted,  best  accounts  for  all  the  evidence. 

Nor  can  the  student  altogether  escape  the  necessity  for 
far-reaching  investigations  and  the  use  of  general  conclusions 
based  on  extensive  study  in  the  realm  of  biology,  history,  or 
philosophy.     It  must  always  be  remembered  that  the  record 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  231 

is  that  which  requires  to  be  accounted  for.  This  is  the 
fixed  fact — that  the  record  affirms,  for  example,  that  Jesus 
was  born  without  human  paternity,  that  Stephen  when 
accused  before  the  Sanhedrin  made  a  certain  speech,  that 
Peter  when  imprisoned  in  Jerusalem  was  released  by  an 
angel  and  guided  out  of  the  prison,  the  gates  opening  of  them- 
selves. It  is  not  the  historian's  task,  or  within  his  province, 
simply  to  deny  the  assertion  or  expunge  the  record,  but  to 
discover  what  is  the  most  probable  genesis  of  the  record. 
Is  it  a  correct  interpretation  of  veritable  experiences,  or  a 
misinterpretation,  or  a  modification  of  an  account  which  was 
originally  one  or  the  other  of  these,  or  a  poetic  expression  of 
more  prosaic  facts  which  we  ourselves  are  liable  to  misread 
through  misinterpretation  of  its  character  ? 

In  the  consideration  of  these  and  other  possible  explana- 
tions of  the  fact  of  the  record,  account  must  be  taken  of  such 
matters  as  the  way  in  which  the  New  Testament  books — 
especially  the  narrative  books — arose,  as  this  is  disclosed,  for 
example,  by  extensive  and  minute  study  of  the  relation  of  the 
Synoptic  Gospels  to  one  another;  the  way  in  which  the  men 
of  the  first  Christian  century  thought  and  reasoned  in  refer- 
ence to  what  may  be  called  the  natural  and  the  supernatural; 
the  total  evidence  of  biology  as  to  the  possibihty  of  partheno- 
genesis, and  the  total  evidence  of  history  as  to  the  probability 
of  the  occurrence  of  unique  exceptions  to  otherwise  universal 
laws.  The  eventual  verdict  of  the  historian  will  be  the  accept- 
ance of  that  as  fact  which,  being  so  accepted,  best  accounts  for 
the  existence  of  the  record  as  it  stands.  Thus  the  New 
Testament  scholar  in  his  character  as  historian  becomes  far 
more  than  an  interpreter  and  cannot  escape  those  large 
responsibilities  which  fall  to  the  historian  in  general. 

Literature. — Weiss,  Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament,  2  vols. 
(Edinburgh:  Clark,  1879),  Introduction;  Beyschlag,  New  Testament 
Theology,  2  vols..  Introduction  (Edinburgh-  Clark,  1896);  Burton,  "The 
Relation  of  Biblical  Theology  to  Systematic  Theology,"  Biblical  World, 
Vol.  XXX  (December,  1907),  pp.  418-28. 


232         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

2,  For  the  purposes  of  theology  and  ethics. — In  the  realm 
of  theological  and  ethical  thought  the  student  of  the  New 
Testament  not  only  finds  certain  opinions  expressed,  but  dis- 
covers the  historic  fact  that  these  opinions  were  held  and  ad- 
vocated by  those  great  historic  persons  whose  life  and  works 
gave  birth  to  Christianity.  It  also  falls  within  his  task  as  a 
historian  to  discover  how  these  teachers  and  writers  influenced 
one  another  and  how  they  were  severally  influenced  by  the 
thought  of  their  predecessors  and  contemporaries,  whether 
Jewish,  Greek,  Roman,  or  oriental.  In  other  words,  the  New 
Testament  historian  deals  with  genetic  relations,  not  simply 
with  unrelated  facts.  It  is  within  his  scope  to  discover  not 
only  how  far  the  author  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  for  example, 
was  influenced  by  Paul  and  what  use  he  made  of  the  Synoptists, 
but  also  how  far  he  was  affected  by  the  Stoic  philosophy,  the 
Judaeo-Greek  type  of  thought  exemplified  in  Philo,  or  the 
Orientahsm  which  was  sweeping  over  the  Graeco-Roman 
world  in  his  day. 

But  all  this  falls  strictly  within  the  sphere  of  history.  It 
may  indeed  throw  important  light  upon  questions  of  value. 
To  discover,  if  such  be  the  case,  that  a  certain  opinion  of 
Paul  was  absorbed  by  him  from  an  oriental  religion  which  as 
a  whole  has  little  claim  to  be  of  exceptionally  high  religious 
value  may  properly  affect  one's  judgment  of  the  weight  which 
is  to  be  given  to  such  an  opinion  as  compared  with  one  which  is 
found  to  be  the  product  of  a  personal  and  profoundly  ethical 
experience  of  the  apostle  himself.  Yet  origins  do  not  of  them- 
selves determine  values.  To  label  a  doctrine  oriental  is  not 
to  prove  it  false,  nor  to  mark  it  Hebrew  to  prove  it  true. 

Questions  of  boundary  are  usually  difficult  to  settle.  It 
is  more  important  to  make  clear  distinctions  in  one's  mind 
between  questions  of  fact  and  origin  and  those  of  value  and 
truth  than  to  determine  just  where  the  boundary  line  hes 
between  New  Testament  study  and  systematic  theology.  The 
former  are  clearly  within  the  sphere  of  the  New  Testament 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  233 

student,  and  in  dealing  with  the  latter  one  is  certainly  ap- 
proaching, if  not  entering,  the  domain  of  the  theologian  and 
ethicist.  Perhaps  it  is  best  to  say  that  New  Testament 
scholarship  has  discharged  its  duty  when  it  has  answered  the 
questions  of  history,  including  those  of  origin,  and  delivered 
its  historic  results  to  the  theologian.  It  may  then  be  left 
to  the  latter  to  say  how  these  results  shall  be  used  to  contribute 
to  the  ends  of  his  science. 

Literature. — E.  D.  Burton,  "The  Relation  of  Biblical  to  Systematic 
Theology,"  Biblical  World,  XXX  (December,  1907),  418-28;  Gerald  B. 
Smith,  "What  Shall  the  Systematic  Theologian  Expect  from  the  New 
Testament  Scholar?"  American  Journal  of  Theology,  XIX  (July,  1915), 
383-401. 

3.  For  the  development  of  personal  character. — The  New 

Testament  presents  to  us  certain  great  and  admirable  char- 
acters, Peter,  John,  Paul,  Jesus,  and  a  few  examples  to  be 
shunned,  Judas,  Ananias,  and  Sapphira.  It  also  abounds  in 
ethical  and  religious  teachings,  some  in  the  form  of  specific 
injunctions,  others  in  that  of  broad,  inclusive  principles.  That 
the  character  of  the  noble  men  of  the  early  Christian  church, 
above  all  and  far  above  them  all  that  of  Jesus,  presents  an 
ideal  of  character,  both  in  its  attitude  toward  God  and  in  its 
relation  to  men,  which  makes  a  powerful  appeal  to  the  human 
mind  and  conscience  and  effectively  incites  to  efforts  to  achieve 
that  ideal,  the  history  of  the  Christian  church  gives  abundant 
evidence.  The  noblest  men  of  the  Christian  centuries  have 
drawn  their  inspiration  from  Jesus,  and  the  noblest  achieve- 
ments have  found  their  suggestion  and  their  impetus  in  him. 
Only  less  effective  have  been  the  teachings  of  the  teachers 
and  writers  of  the  New  Testament.  If  the  influence  of  these 
has  been  less  uniformly  good,  the  explanation  probably  lies 
largely  in  two  facts.  First,  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  they  stand — and  the  church  generally  has  not  been 
at  pains  to  distinguish  sharply  between  the  teachings  of  Jesus 
and  those  of  his  followers,  whether  expressed  as  their  own  or 


234        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

ascribed  to  him — are  on  a  somewhat  lower  level  and  some- 
what more  easily  open  to  misapprehension  than  is  the  char- 
acter of  Jesus  or  even  that  of  Paul.  Thus  the  literalist,  who 
has  resorted  to  the  book  as  his  authority,  has  gained  a  smaller 
advantage  than  he  who  has  turned  to  its  great  personalities 
for  inspiration.  The  second  reason,  which  is  closely  connected 
with  the  first,  is  that  many  interpreters  of  the  New  Testament, 
failing  to  penetrate  deeply  enough  into  its  meaning,  have  taken 
its  teachings  in  a  legalistic  spirit,  thus  reversing  the  real 
intention  and  missing  the  deeper  thought  of  both  Jesus  and 
Paul.  Legalism,  to  be  sure,  if  its  individual  precepts  be  suffi- 
ciently lofty,  tends  to  produce  a  type  of  character  having  a 
certain  nobility,  as  is  illustrated  in  ancient  Phariseeism  and  the 
Puritanism  of  the  seventeenth  century.  But,  as  illustrated 
by  these  same  examples,  it  fails  to  produce  the  highest  type 
of  character. 

Afike,  therefore,  from  the  point  of  view  of  sound  principles 
of  interpretation  and  from  that  of  the  pragmatic  test  of  actual 
effects,  it  appears  that  the  highest  benefit  in  personal  charac- 
ter is  achieved,  not  by  treating  the  New  Testament  as  a 
body  of  rules  of  conduct,  but  on  the  one  hand  as  a  book  of 
history,  presenting  to  us  in  biographical  narratives  of  sur- 
passing interest  the  highest  ideals  of  character,  not  to  be  copied 
in  detail,  but  to  be  emulated  in  spirit  and  motive,  and  on  the 
other  hand  as  a  transcendent  example  of  the  "literature  of 
power,"  setting  forth  in  many  forms  with  many  specific  illus- 
trations the  central  principles  of  the  reUgion  of  faith  in  God 
and  universal  love  for  all  members  of  the  community  of  sen- 
tient beings.  This  was  both  the  reUgion  and  the  morality  of 
Jesus  and  of  his  great  apostle. 

If  it  be  asked  whether  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament 
and  the  example  of  Jesus  are  not  to  be  accepted  as  authorita- 
tive, the.  answer  must  be  (and  this  is  largely  the  point  of  view 
of  the  New  Testament  itself)  that  in  the  realm  of  belief  that 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  235 

only  can  claim  authority  which  can  establish  itself  as  true, 
and  in  the  realm  of  conduct  that  only  which  can  estabhsh 
itself  as  good,  not  for  the  individual  apart  from  the  com- 
munity, but  for  the  community  and  for  the  individual  as  a 
member  of  the  community.  The  New  Testament  as  a  whole 
is  the  greatest  aid  to  the  production  of  good  character  of  any 
piece  of  literature  in  existence;  but  it  is  most  effective  in  the 
production  of  character  when  its  authority  is  grounded  in  the 
truth  and  excellence  of  its  teachings,  pragmatically  tested, 
not  the  truth  in  its  authority;  when  emphasis  is  laid  on  its 
great  central  principles  rather  than  on  specific  injunctions, 
and  when  the  latter  are  severally  put  to  the  test  of  their 
conformity  to  the  central  principle  and  their  fruitage  in  life. 

4.  For  religious  teaching  and  preaching. — Closely  associ- 
ated with  the  use  of  the  books  for  the  development  of  personal 
character  is  their  employment  in  rehgious  teaching  and  preach- 
ing. For  centuries  Christian  preaching  has  been  based  very 
largely  on  the  New  Testament,  and  Christian  teachers  have 
found  in  it  not  only  a  storehouse  of  texts,  but  a  wealth  of  inspi- 
rational and  instructional  material.  The  discriminative  judg- 
ment that  has  led  men  who  were  endeavoring  to  Uft  their 
fellow-men  to  higher  moral  and  rehgious  planes  to  seek  their 
material  in  this  collection  of  ancient  books  has  a  sound  basis. 

Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  anticipate  that  this  judgment 
will  be  reversed  or  seriously  modified  by  the  results  of  scholarly 
research.  The  problems  with  which  Jesus  and  Paul  dealt  are, 
in  part,  problems  of  perennial  and  deep  interest  ta  serious- 
minded  men  of  all  ages,  in  part  problems  that  are  again  to  the 
front  in  our  own  day.  Not  only  the  specific  answer  which 
they  gave  to  these  questions,  but  even  more  the  way  in  which 
they  dealt  with  them,  the  profound  and  far-reaching  principles 
at  which  they  arrived  in  their  consideration  of  their  tasks, 
above  all  the  ideals  of  character  which  their  fives  exemphfy, 
have  always  exerted  and  today  still  exert  a  powerful  and 


236        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

healthful  influence  in  stimulating  men  to  noble  effort  and  guid- 
ing them  in  ways  of  wisdom  and  righteousness.  The  preacher 
who  turns  away  from  these  deep  wells  of  thought  and  life 
to  shallower  streams,  and  staler,  though  more  modem  cisterns, 
makes  a  serious  mistake.  The  preacher  must,  indeed,  be  a 
man  of  his  own  day — a  prophet  to  his  own  time.  But  to 
speak  effectively  to  his  contemporaries  he  needs  to  know  the 
great  epochs  and  the  great  teachers  of  the  past,  and  he  cannot 
afford  to  neglect  the  books  of  the  Bible  in  which  preachers  of 
all  the  Christian  centuries  have  found  unsurpassed  instruc- 
tion and  unequaled  inspiration. 

For  the  value  of  these  books  for  the  purposes  of  the  teacher 
and  preacher  is  in  no  way  diminished,  but  rather  increased  by 
the  recognition  of  the  facts  respecting  their  origin  and  author- 
ity, and  a  use  of  them  in  accordance  with  the  facts.  The 
student  and  preacher  who  discovers  that  our  New  Testament 
books  were  in  no  small  measure  the  product  of  controversies 
and  differences  of  opinion,  of  struggle  within  the  souls  of  men 
and  between  men,  learns  indeed  not  to  estimate  all  parts  of 
the  New  Testament  as  of  equal  value  for  all  purposes  or  from 
the  rehgious  point  of  view.  But  this  discovery  makes  him  a 
better  not  a  worse  preacher. 

The  facts  of  history  have  shown  that  Paul  was  in  error 
in  his  teaching  in  I  Thessalonians  about  the  coming  of  the 
Lord  in  the  clouds  of  heaven.  It  is  a  palpable  infidehty  to 
truth  to  affirm  that  this  teaching  was  true ;  it  is  a  double  error 
to  transfer  it  to  the  present  time  and  reaffirm  it  for  our  own 
day.  Some  portions  of  his  teachings  about  marriage  and 
spiritual  gifts,  however  adapted  to  meet  the  needs  of  the 
Corinthians,  are  impossible  of  reaffirmation  today.  Whether 
the  preacher  in  the  pulpit  passes  these  things  over  in  silence 
and  limits  himself  to  the  things  that  have  attested  themselves 
as  true  by  the  test  of  human  experience,  as  may  often  be  his 
wisest  course,  or  the  teacher  finds  it  necessary  to  deal  with 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  237 

them  explicitly,  honestly,  and  frankly,  as  he  must  if  they  come 
up  for  consideration  at  all,  both  the  preaching  and  the  teach- 
ing will  be  made  more  effective  religiously  and  morally  than 
when  it  is  assumed  that  all  the  views  of  the  New  Testament 
writers  are  equally  valuable. 

Nor  are  these  superseded  teachings  thereby  simply 
remanded  to  the  historical  museum.  By  dealing  with  them 
honestly  and  frankly  the  religious  teacher  of  today  may  find 
them  of  great  value.  They  were  vital  elements  of  the  experi- 
ence of  the  early  church.  They  illustrate  how  inevitable  it  is 
that  religious  experience  shall  find  expression  in  terms  of  the 
thought  of  the  time,  and  the  development  of  religious  think- 
ing march  abreast  with  the  general  intellectual  progress  of 
the  race.  The  study  of  them  will  on  the  one  hand  heighten 
our  estimate  of  Jesus,  as  we  discover  how  keenly  his  vision 
penetrated  to  the  fundamental  facts  of  religion  and  escaped 
being  warped  by  the  thought  of  his  day,  and  on  the  other 
hand  make  us  watchful  of  our  own  bias  and  prejudices  and 
tolerant  of  what  seems  to  us  the  one-sidedness  and  provin- 
cialism of  other  thinkers. 

But  above  all  it  is  important  that  the  recognition  of  those 
elements  of  the  New  Testament  which  no  longer  serve  the 
moral  and  religious  needs  of  modern  men  should  never  be 
allowed  to  obscure  from  our  vision  or  exclude  from  our  preach- 
ing those  far  more  central  elements  which  are  of  perpetual 
value  and  which  are  capable  of  being  used  today  with  almost 
limitless  power  for  the  transformation  of  character  and  the 
elevation  of  the  lives  of  men.  All  human  experience  has  in 
it  moral  value  for  teaching  and  preaching,  and  all  may  there- 
fore be  legitimately  used  for  these  purposes.  But  it  would 
be  a  great  mistake  to  overlook  the  exceptional  value  of  the 
books  of  the  Bible  for  these  purposes,  or  give  them  anything 
lower  than  the  place  of  first  importance.  The  Bible,  espe- 
cially the  New  Testament,  is  still  the  preacher's  most  valuable 


238        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

source  of  inspiration  and  thought.  To  neglect  it  is  to  enfeeble 
his  ministry  and  diminish  his  power.  To  study  it  dihgently 
and  intelligently,  while  also  keeping  himself  awake  to  the 
problems  of  the  modern  world,  is  to  fit  himself  to  be  a 
messenger  of  power,  a  prophet  of  God,  to  his  own  day  and 
generation. 


V.     THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY 

By  SHIRLEY  JACKSON  CASE 
Professor  of  New  Testament  Interpretation,  University  of  Chicago 


ANALYSIS 

PAGES 

I.  Task  and  Method. — ^The  point  of  departure. — The  ulterior 
limit. — The  scope  of  study. — The  developmental  character  of 
Christianity 241-244 

II.  The  Contemporary  Graeco-Roman  World. — Political  condi- 
tions.— The  status  of  society. — The  religious  situation     .        .        .     244-248 

III.  Contemporary  Judaism. — The  Jewish  dispersion. — Jewish 
life   outside   Palestine. — The   political   history   of   Palestine. — The 

status  of  the  people. — Religious  conditions. — Jewish  literature   .        .     248-253 

IV.  The  Work  of  Jesus. — Jesus'  relation  to  Judaism. — Jesus' 
relation  to  John  the  Baptist. — ^The  task  of  the  biographer. — The  char- 
acter of  the  sources.^Tests  for  determining  the  historicity  of  tradition. 
— Chronological  and  geographical  data. — Jesus'  messianic  con- 
sciousness.— The  miracles  of  Jesus. — The  personal  religion  of  Jesus. — 

Jesus'  place  in  early  Christianity 253-270 

V.  Palestinian  Jewish  Christianity. — Relative  importance  of 
the  period. — Sources  of  information. — Connections  with  Judaism. — 
The  attainment  of  the  new  messianic  faith. — ^The  beginnings  of  a 
new  community. — The  break  with  Judaism. — Growth  of  missionary 
enterprise. — Life  in  the  Palestinian  community. — Later  history  of 
Palestinian  Christianity 270-279 

VI.  Gentile  Christianity  in  the  Apostolic  Age. — Characteristics  of 
the  period. — Sources  of  information. — The  conversion  of  Paul. — • 
Paul's  career  as  a  missionary. — Missionary  methods  of  Paul. — Life  in 

the  Pauline  communities. — The  Christianity  of  Paul  ....     280-288 

VII.  Gentile  Christianity  in  Post- Apostolic  Times. — General 
characteristics. — Sources  of  information. — Evidences  of  growth. — 
Relation  to  Judaism. — Relation  to  the  Roman  state. — Organization 
and  worship. — The  content  of  Christian  teaching. — The  Christian 

life 289-300 

VIII.  The  Work  of  the  Early  Apologists. — New  tendencies. — 
The  individual  Apologists. — The  specific  problem  of  the  Apologists. — 
The    Logos     Christology. — The     philosophical     vs.    the    mythical 

motive 300-305 

IX.  Gnosticism. — General  characteristics. — The  antecedents  of 
Gnosticism. — Relation  to  Paul. — Earliest  contact  with  Christianity. — 
The  chief  Gnostic  leaders. — The  Gnostic  system. — The  historical 
significance  of  Gnosticism 305-315 

X.  The  Establishment  of  the  Catholic  Church. — The  emergence 
of  the  Catholic  idea. — Outstanding  leaders  of  the  period. — Internal 
conflicts. — Contemporary  relationships. — Triumph  of  the  monarch- 
ical ideal 315-326 


V.     THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY 

I.      TASK  AND   METHOD 

The  point  of  departure. — The  first  problem  confronting 
the  student  of  early  Christianity  is  the  choice  of  a  starting- 
point.  Where  ought  he  to  begin  his  study  in  order  to  obtain 
a  correct  and  full  understanding  of  that  historical  phenomenon 
called  "  early  Christianity  "  ?  A  moment's  reflection  will  show 
that  this  question  cannot  be  answered  so  easily  as  one  might 
on  first  thought  imagine.  While  the  name  Christianity  is 
said  to  have  been  coined  at  Antioch  in  Syria  early  in  the  forties 
(Acts  11:23),  the  religious  movement  itself  had  already  been 
in  existence  for  some  time.  If  by  "Christianity"  we  mean 
an  independent  movement  differentiated  from  Judaism  by 
the  estabHshment  of  a  new  organization,  ritual,  and  doctrine, 
we  may  properly  look  for  its  beginnings  in  the  period  following 
close  upon  the  death  of  Jesus.  But  this  period,  while  it  may 
mark  the  formal  beginning  of  the  new  rehgion,  does  not  supply 
an  adequate  starting-point  for  a  thoroughly  genetic  study. 
Although  Jesus  did  not  formally  break  with  Judaism,  and  so 
did  not  found  any  new  organization,  his  work  was  so  significant 
for  the  estabhshment  of  the  new  enterprise  that  the  latter 
cannot  be  properly  understood  without  taking  account  of  his 
career  and  the  career  of  his  followers  prior  to  his  death. 
Again,  he  and  they  were  part  of  a  specific  phase  of  human 
experience  which  gave  them  their  problems  and  supplied  them 
with  a  substantial  religious  heritage  from  the  past.  John 
the  Baptist  preceded  them,  and  all  stood  within  the  great 
stream  of  later  Jewish  history.  Moreover,  Palestine  had 
been  ruled  in  turn  by  several  different  powers,  finally  coming 
under  the  domination  of  Rome.  Consequently  conditions 
within  Judaism  cannot  be  properly  interpreted  without  some 

241 


242        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

reference  to  the  Graeco-Roman  world  of  which  Judaism  was 
now  a  part.  The  student  of  early  Christianity  must  take 
account  of  these  historical  antecedents  if  he  would  make  a 
thoroughly  genetic  study  of  the  new  religion. 

The  ulterior  limit. — A  second  problem  is  the  choice  of  a 
a  stopping-place.  At  what  date  did  the  Christian  movement 
become  so  well  established  as  an  independent  religion  and  win 
for  itself  so  substantial  a  place  in  the  Mediterranean  world 
that  it  may  fairly  be  said  to  have  reached  maturity  ?  While 
recognizing  that  all  history  is  one  great  stream  of  Hf  e  and  not  a 
series  of  unrelated  segments,  we  still  may  detect  stages  in  the 
growth  of  a  movement  when  certain  phases  of  its  life  become 
so  fully  crystalHzed  as  to  mark  a  definite  period  in  its  growth. 
Although  Christianity  did  not  receive  legal  recognition  in  the 
Roman  world  until  the  issuance  of  the  edict  of  Milan  (3 13  a.d.)  , 
its  distinctive  character  and  form  as  a  future  world-religion 
were  practically  established  by  the  middle  of  the  third  cen- 
tury. By  this  time  the  movement  may  be  said  to  have  passed 
from  youth  to  maturity.  Before  this  date  a  distinctively 
Christian  literature  had  been  assembled  and  canonized; 
apologists  had  come  forward  to  defend  the  new  faith  before 
the  poHtical  authorities  and  to  commend  it  to  the  learned; 
Christian  communities  had  become  established  all  about  the 
Mediterranean,  especially  in  the  chief  centers  of  population; 
and  problems  of  organization,  ritual,  and  doctrine  had  been 
worked  out  along  lines  which  remained  fairly  stable  for  some 
time.  It  is  a  purely  arbitrary,  and  on  the  whole  erroneous, 
custom  to  make  early  Christianity  end  approximately  with  the 
year  100,  at  the  close  of  the  so-called  New  Testament  period. 
The  student  must  extend  the  range  of  his  vision  well  into  the 
third  century  if  he  would  follow  at  all  fully  the  course  of 
Christianity's  initial  history. 

The  scope  of  study. — Within  this  general  period  how  com- 
prehensive should  the  scope  of  the  student's  inquiry  be  ?  If  he 
desires  to  become  acquainted  only  with  certain  externals  in 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  243 

the  history  of  the  new  reHgion,  such  as  its  territorial  expansion, 
its  ecclesiastical  organization,  its  literary  products,  or  its 
doctrinal  tenets,  he  may  confine  himself  within  relatively 
narrow  hmits.  But  if  in  addition  to  these  items  he  also 
desires  insight  into  the  vital  experiences  and  activities  of 
actual  Christian  people,  who  faced  various  problems  and 
''worked  out  their  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling," 
the  scope  of  inquiry  must  be  greatly  enlarged.  These  vital 
matters  cannot  be  understood  unless  one  becomes  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  actual  world  in  which  the  early  Christians 
lived.  ■  And  since  the  new  reHgion  drew  its  membership  from 
many  sources,  a  variety  of  surroundings  contributed  toward 
the  making  of  hfe  within  the  new  communities.  Converts 
from  Palestinian  Judaism  were  equipped  with  a  set  of  expe- 
riences determined  more  immediately  by  political,  social, 
cultural,  and  religious  conditions  within  Palestine,  but  more 
remotely  by  conditions  within  the  contemporary  Graeco- 
Roman  world  to  which  Palestine  politically  belonged.  Con- 
verts from  among  the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion  had  still  another 
set  of  experiences,  in  which  contact  with  Graeco-Roman 
life  formed  a  more  important  item.  Those  who  came  over 
to  Christianity  from  paganism — and  these  constituted  by 
far  the  greater  number  of  its  adherents  long  before  the  close 
of  our  period — had  still  a  different  heritage,  the  reahty  and 
importance  of  which  are  too  often  minimized.  The  scope  of 
the  student's  inquiry  must  be  sufficiently  comprehensive 
to  include  the  whole  range  of  different  Christians'  experience 
in  contact  with  their  varied  environment  during  the  first  two 
centuries  of  our  era. 

The  developmental  character  of  Christianity. — ^One  more 
item  must  be  noted  in  order  to  insure  correct  procedure. 
What  conception  of  Christianity's  nature  is  implied  in  the 
foregoing  definition  of  the  historian's  task?  This  t>'pe  of 
study  will  necessarily  view  Christianity  in  terms  of  life — 
the  vital  religious  experience  of  actual  people.     This  means 


244        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

that  wide  variations  are  to  be  recognized,  since  varying  types 
of  personality  set  in  different  environments  and  drawing  upon 
different  historical  heritages  must  produce  much  complexity 
in  real  Kfe.  While  the  historian  will  note  items  of  uniformity 
among  Christians  he  will  not  neglect  items  of  diversity, 
which  are  quite  as  essential  to  a  correct  understanding  of  the 
actual  rehgious  life  of  believers.  Nor  will  he  attempt  to 
define  Christianity  simply  in  terms  of  static  quantities  of 
belief,  ritual,  or  practice.  The  behefs  which  different  Chris- 
tians held,  the  forms  they  employed  in  worship,  and  the 
decrees  they  enacted  for  the  conduct  of  the  ideal  life  must 
all  receive  due  attention,  but  the  true  historian  will  ever 
remember  that  his  work  is  not  completed  when  he  has  merely 
catalogued  and  evaluated  these  products  of  early  Christian 
living.  His  ultimate  task  is  to  interpret  the  great  complex 
of  actual  life  out  of  which  these  things  came  and  of  which 
they  formed  an  integral  part.  Thus  Christianity  must  be 
conceived  as  thoroughly  vital  and  developmental  in  its  nature. 

Literature. — G.  W.  Knox,  article  "Christianity"  in  the  Encyclo- 
paedia Britannica,  nth  ed.  (Cambridge:  University  Press,  1910),  VI, 
280-91;  S.  J.  Case,  The  Evolution  of  Early  Christianity  (Chicago:  The 
University  of  Chicago  Press,  1914),  pp.  1-47;  G.  B.  Smith,  "Christianity 
and  History,"  Biblical  World,  XLIV  (1914),  409-16. 

II.      THE   CONTEMPORARY   GRAECO-ROMAN   WORLD 

The  early  Christians'  world,  taken  in  the  large,  was  Graeco- 
Roman.  At  the  outset  their  relations  with  this  larger  world 
were  at  second  hand  through  the  medium  of  Judaism.  But 
since  Judaism  itself  was  really  a  part  of  Graeco-Roman  Kfe  as 
a  whole,  and  more  especially  since  Christians  in  the  second 
and  successive  generations  were  not  only  brought  into  intimate 
touch  with  gentile  hfe  but  were  actually  a  part  of  it  by  birth 
and  training,  the  first  duty  of  the  student  of  early  Christianity 
is  to  acquaint  himself  with  conditions  in  the  Graeco-Roman 
world. 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  245 

Political  conditions. — In  order  to  obtain  a  proper  per- 
spective for  viewing  the  political  history  contemporary  with 
early  Christianity,  one  should  begin  with  the  rule  of  Alexander 
the  Great  (336-323  B.C.)-  The  course  of  history  under  his 
successors  (the  "Diadochi")  and  their  descendants  (the 
"Epigoni"),  and  particularly  the  rule  of  the  Seleucids  in 
Syria  and  the  Ptolemies  in  Egypt,  ought  to  be  followed  with 
some  care.  Otherwise  it  will  be  impossible  to  understand  some 
of  the  most  important  phases  in  the  experience  of  the  Jewish 
people  as  well  as  the  gentile  conditions  of  life  which  became 
fixed  at  this  time  and  remained  substantially  unchanged  in 
many  respects  even  after  the  Romans  conquered  the  East. 
But  attention  must  center  particularly  upon  the  Roman 
period,  especially  from  the  time  of  Augustus  on,  when  the 
pohtical  history  of  the  Roman  Empire  had  a  very  important 
bearing  upon  the  life  of  both  Jews  and  Christians.  A  knowl- 
edge of  this  background  is  essential  to  an  understanding  of 
such  significant  events  as  the  death  of  John  the  Baptist  and  of 
Jesus,  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  in  70  a.d.  and  its  destruction  in 
135  A.D.,  the  long  imprisonments  of  Paul  and  ultimately  his 
death  as  well  as  that  of  many  other  Christian  leaders,  the 
persecutions  which  the  Christian  movement  suffered  from  time 
to  time,  and  its  ultimate  recognition  as  a  state-religion. 

The  status  of  society. — The  social  situation  is  a  more 
difhcult  subject  to  study,  but  one  of  equal  importance  for  the 
student  of  Christian  origins.  In  the  first  place  the  economic 
conditions  of  that  age  were  largely  responsible  for  the  dis- 
persion of  the  Jews  throughout  the  Mediterranean  lands 
as  well  as  for  that  free  movement  of  the  masses  which  con- 
tributed so  significantly  to  the  spread  of  early  Christianity. 
The  economic  situation  also  had  much  to  do  with  the  dissemi- 
nation of  many  pagan  faiths  over  the  territory  where  Christian- 
ity later  came  to  be  established,  and  these  cults  accordingly 
constituted  an  important  factor  in  the  history  of  Christian 
expansion.     The  social  distinctions  of  the  time  must  also  be 


246        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION    , 

studied,  not  merely  for  the  light  they  shed  upon  the  ante- 
cedents of  the  Christian  movement,  but  because  the  expanding 
life  of  the  new  movement  was  so  closely  linked  with  the 
general  social  status.  The  new  cosmopolitanism  which  had 
resulted  from  the  establishment  of  world-empire;  the  rapid 
development  of  individuahsm  called  forth  by  the  breaking 
down  of  the  narrow  nationalism  of  earlier  times;  the  mingling 
of  many  different  nationalities  at  the  great  centers  of  popu- 
lation ;  the  social  gradations  distinguishing  slave  from  master, 
rich  from  poor,  ignorant  from  learned — -these  are  topics  about 
which  the  student  of  early  Christianity  should  possess  accurate 
and  fairly  full  information.  The  general  cultural  status  of 
Graeco-Roman  civilization  ought  also  to  be  studied  for  the 
Hght  it  sheds  upon  the  personnel  of  the  gentile  churches  and 
the  conditions  under  which  the  missionary  propaganda  was 
carried  on.  A  knowledge  of  the  ways  in  which  the  youth 
were  educated,  the  intellectual  standards  of  the  time,  the 
popular  modes  of  entertainment  such  as  the  sophist  provided, 
and  the  types  of  literature  which  found  favor  with  the  people 
of  that  age  will  aid  very  materially  in  our  study  of  the  early 
Christian  movement. 

The  religious  situation. — The  religious  side  of  Graeco- 
Roman  life,  while  inseparably  bound  up  with  political,  social, 
and  cultural  conditions,  is  so  important  for  the  study  of  Chris- 
tian origins  that  it  deserves  special  attention.  The  outstand- 
ing religious  characteristic  of  the  period  was  its  syncretism. 
This  was  exceedingly  complex,  but  for  convenience  of  treat- 
ment some  attempt  must  be  made  to  single  out  in  a  general 
way  the  chief  factors  in  this  complicated  life.  The  student 
may  select  the  following  topics  for  investigation: 

I.  A  study  of  survivals  from  the  ethnic  faiths  of  an  earlier 
age  is  of  value.  Since  Graeco-Roman  civihzation  occupied 
territory  that  had  nourished  older  cultures  such  as  those  of 
Egypt,  Babylonia,  Persia,  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Palestine, 
pre-Hellenistic  rehgious  survivals  naturally  played  an  impor- 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  247 

tant  role  in  later  times.  To  these  oriental  heritages  must  be 
added  the  popular  polytheism  of  Greece  and  Rome.  To  be 
sure,  the  ancient  cults  were  often  considerably  affected  by  the 
new  conditions  of  the  later  age,  but  these  changes  frequently  in- 
creased rather  than  lessened  the  significance  of  the  ancient  faith. 

2.  The  so-called  mystery-religions  form  a  sufiEiciently  dis- 
tinct phenomenon  to  receive  independent  treatment.  In 
the  main  they  were,  indeed,  survivals  from  an  earUer  age,  but 
they  attained  unique  prominence  and  importance  in  Graeco- 
Roman  times.  In  Greece  the  Eleusinian  mysteries  are  most 
deserving  of  attention,  though  other  cults  of  similar  type,  such 
as  the  mysteries  of  Dionysus,  ought  not  to  be  ignored.  A 
study  of  the  oriental  mysteries  which  in  this  period  spread  far 
and  wide  over  the  Mediterranean  lands  will  also  prove  very 
instructive.  The  more  important  of  these,  to  which  study 
should  be  directed,  are  the  cults  of  Cybele  and  Attis  in  Phrygia, 
Ishtar  and  Tammuz  in  Babylonia,  Ashtart  and  Eshmun  in 
Phoenicia,  Atargatis  and  Hadad  in  Cihcia  and  Syria,  Aphro- 
dite and  Adonis  in  Syria  and  Cyprus,  and  Isis  and  Osiris- 
Serapis  in  Egypt. 

3.  A  third  type  of  Graeco-Roman  religion,  which  had  con- 
siderable influence,  was  the  worship  of  the  ruler.  The  attempt 
of  the  Seleucids  to  impose  this  worship  upon  the  Jews  had 
much  to  do  with  the  Jewish  uprising  of  Maccabean  times,  and 
emperor-worship  under  the  Romans  affected  considerably  the 
life  of  both  Jews  and  Christians.  Some  of  the  most  character- 
istic experiences  and  doctrines  of  early  Christianity  were  the 
result  of  contact  with  this  pervasive  phenomenon  -  against 
which  Christians  uniformly  protested. 

4.  The  popular  philosophy  of  that  age  was  so  closely 
linked  with  religion  as  to  furnish  a  distinct  item  in  the  actual 
religious  situation.  The  Epicurean  and  Stoic  schools  are  of 
greatest  importance  for  the  student  of  first-  and  second- 
century  Christianity,  before  neo-Platonism  gained  pre-emi- 
nence.    Stoicism  in  particular  had  permeated  the  life  of  the 


248        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

masses  and  was  being  vigorously  preached  by  missionaries 
who  styled  themselves  apostles  of  Zeus  sent  to  proclaim  a 
message  of  deliverance  to  the  common  man.  Acquaintance 
with  both  the  content  and  the  form  of  their  preaching  will  often 
prove  helpful  as  shedding  light  upon  the  early  Christian 
missionary's  task  and  methods. 

5.  Certain  types  of  religious  speculation,  mostly  oriental 
in  origin,  were  also  common  in  this  age.  A  knowledge  of  these 
may  be  obtained  by  studying  such  subjects  as  astrology, 
pre-Christian  Gnosticism,  Hermeticism,  and  ancient  mysticism 
in  general. 

Literature. — Greek  and  Roman  authors  of  the  period  wrote  volumi- 
nously. Many  of  their  writings  are  still  extant,  for  which  see  the  standard 
works  on  Greek  and  Roman  literature.  H.  N.  Fowler,  A  History  of 
Ancient  Greek  Literature  (New  York:  Appleton,  1902),  and  J.  W. 
Mackail,  Latin  Literature  (New  York:  Scribner,  1912),  are  good  brief 
treatments.  For  comprehensive  treatments  one  may  consult  W.  von 
Christ,  Geschichte  dcr  griechischen  Litteratur,  3  vols.,  5.  Aufl.  (Miinchen: 
Beck,  1911-13),  and  M.  Schanz,  Geschichte  der  romischen  Litteratur, 
6  vols.,  2.-3.  Aufl.  (Miinchen:  Beck,  1905-14).  To  these  literary  soiirces 
we  must  add  large  quantities  of  non-literary  documents,  such  as  papyri 
and  inscriptions,  of  great  importance  for  our  study. 

As  for  modern  study  of  the  Graeco-Roman  world,  the  main  outlines 
of  the  subject  are  given  in  S.  J.  Case,  The  Evolution  of  Early  Christianity, 
chaps,  iii,  vii-ix,  where  literature  is  also  cited  in  full.  The  following  will 
be  found  especially  useful:  E.  Hatch,  The  Influence  of  Greek  Ideas  and 
Usages  upon  the  Christian  Church  (London:  Williams  &  Norgate,  1890); 
P.  Wendland,  Die  hellenistisch-romische  Kultur  in  ihren  Beziehungen  zu 
Judentum  und  Christentum,  2.  Aufl.  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  191 2);  A. 
Deissmann,  Licht  vom  Osten,  2.  Aufl.  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1909;  English 
translation.  Light  from  the  Ancient  East  [New  York:  Hodder  &  Stoughton, 
1910]);  S.  Angus,  The  Environment  of  Early  Christianity  (New  York: 
Scribner,  191 5). 

III.      CONTEMPORARY   JUDAISM 

The  Jewish  Dispersion. — The  territorial  distribution  of 
the  Jewish  people  in  Graeco-Roman  times  was  extensive. 
Those  Jews  who  lived  outside  Palestine  were  greatly  in  the 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  249 

majority,  and  from  the  time  of  the  Exile  on  they  were  scattered 
widely  over  the  whole  territory.  Large  numbers  of  them  hved 
in  the  Tigris-Euphrates  valley  as  well  as  in  Egypt,  where  they 
became  very  numerous  under  the  Ptolemies.  In  Syria  and 
Asia  Minor  they  constituted  a  large  percentage  of  the  popula- 
tion in  early  Christian  times,  and  throughout  other  parts 
of  the  Mediterranean  world  they  were  everywhere  in  evi- 
dence. Josephus  (Ant.,  XIV,  vii,  2)  reports  Strabo  as  saying, 
"  One  cannot  readily  find  any  place  in  the  world  which  has  not 
received  this  tribe  and  been  taken  possession  of  by  it."  Thus 
the  significance  of  the  Jewish  Dispersion  for  the  history  of 
early  Christianity  was  very  great,  not  simply  because  Chris- 
tianity in  gentile  lands  naturally  built  upon  the  foundation 
which  Judaism  had  laid,  but  also  because  the  Judaism  out 
of  which  Christianity  in  Palestine  grew  had  already  been 
impressed  by  forces  from  without. 

Jewish  life  outside  Palestine. — In  studying  the  status  of 
the  Jews  in  the  Diaspora  several  items  should  be  noted.  They 
occupied  a  distinct  position  within  the  civic  life  of  an  ancient 
city  and  enjoyed  many  special  favors.  They  sometimes 
stood  high  socially,  even  holding  important  official  positions; 
yet  as  a  whole  they  carefully  preserved  their  distinctiveness. 
Since  they  maintained  a  separate  community  organization, 
their  rehgious  Hfe  was  in  so  far  as  possible  modeled  after  that 
of  their  kinsmen  in  Palestine  and  they  retained  a  very  Hvely 
interest  in  the  Holy  Land.  But  the  stimulus  of  their  gentile 
environment  was  not  without  effect  upon  their  religion,  nor 
were  they  by  any  means  impervious  to  the  influences  of 
foreign  culture.  A  Philo  or  a  Josephus,  though  an  aggressive 
defender  of  the  Jewish  faith,  was  quite  different  from  a 
Palestinian  rabbi.  The  fact  that  Judaism  retained  its  integ- 
rity, notwithstanding  these  widely  varying  conditions,  and 
even  carried  on  a  proselytizing  propaganda,  shows  that  we 
must  not  regard  it  as  merely  an  isolated  Palestinian  phe- 
nomenon without  any  significant  vitality.     Inquiry  into  the 


250        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

vigorous  religious  life  of  the  Jews  of  the  Diaspora,  and  a  recog- 
nition of  the  close  connection  they  maintained  with  Palestine, 
should  do  much  to  prevent  the  student  from  falling  into  this 
not  uncommon  error  of  depreciating  the  vitaHty  of  Judaism. 

The  political  history  of  Palestine. — A  brief  sketch  of  the 
poHtical  history  of  the  Palestinian  Jews  is  essential  to  an 
understanding  of  their  religion.  This  study  may  begin 
with  Alexander  the  Great,  but  its  importance  increases  with 
the  time  of  the  Seleucids  and  Ptolemies.  The  most  significant 
point  in  the  history  of  this  general  period  is  the  revolt  of  the 
Maccabees.  From  this  time  on  the  poHtical  activities  of  the 
Jews  must  be  followed  with  some  care  since  their  rehgious  life 
is  very  closely  connected  with  national  activities.  Not  only 
during  the  rule  of  the  Maccabean  princes,  but  after  the  sub- 
jugation of  Palestine  by  the  Romans,  politics  and  religion  went 
hand  in  hand.  It  was  this  situation  which  produced  the 
different  Jewish  parties  and  raised  many  of  the  perplexing 
problems  which  were  discussed  by  both  Jews  and  Christians. 
Thus  familiarity  with  the  political  experiences  of  the  Jewish 
people  during  the  period  from  the  outbreak  of  the  Maccabean 
revolt  in  167  B.C.  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  in  135  a.d. 
is  absolutely  essential  to  an  understanding  of  the  rise  and 
early  history  of  Christianity. 

The  status  of  the  people. — Similar  consideration  should 
be  given  to  the  social,  economic,  and  cultural  status  of  the 
people.  The  daily  occupation  of  many  persons  consisted  in 
tilling  the  soil  and  raising  cattle;  others  were  fishermen, 
artisans,  or  merchants;  others  followed  a  professional  career, 
being  priests,  scribes,  or  physicians;  many  others  were 
ordinary  day  laborers  and  some  were  slaves,  although  most 
persons  of  the  latter  class  were  probably  of  foreign  birth. 
These  different  occupations  yielded  an  abundance  to  some, 
while  others  lived  in  poverty.  As  a  rule  the  priestly  class 
was  well-to-do,  but  the  common  people  were  less  prosperous 
and  the  payment  of  tribute  to  Rome,  together  with  the  col- 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  251 

lections  for  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  often  proved  exceedingly 
burdensome.  In  matters  of  education  and  general  culture, 
interest  centered  chiefly  in  the  Scriptures.  But  these  writings 
were  in  a  language  which  the  common  people  no  longer  under- 
stood, and  apparently  few  of  the  Aramaic-speaking  populace 
ever  became  proficient  in  the  use  of  Hebrew.  The  education 
of  the  upper  classes  was  more  extensive.  Those  who  could 
afford  leisure  for  study  attended  the  school  of  some  noted 
rabbi,  devoting  themselves  to  the  study  and  interpretation 
of  the  Scriptures.  Other  Jewish  youths  with  a  broader 
outlook,  such  as  Josephus,  for  example,  added  to  their  strictly 
Jewish  training  a  smattering  of  Hellenistic  education.  These 
various  conditions  must  be  understood  by  the  student  who 
wishes  to  know  the  actual  situation  in  which  Jesus,  his  imme- 
diate followers,  and  many  of  the  early  missionaries  of  the  new 
religion  had  lived  in  their  youth. 

Religious  conditions. — The  more  distinctly  religious  side  of 
life  among  the  Jews  is  a  subject  of  especial  importance. 

I.  Religion  was  fostered  and  came  to  expression  in  differ- 
ent ways,  but  it  centered  about  three  chief  institutions,  viz., 
the  Temple,  the  Synagogue,  and  the  Law.  Associated  with 
the  Temple  were  the  elaborate  priestly  organization,  the 
national  tribunal  known  as  the  Sanhedrin,  the  sacrificial 
system,  and  the  great  national  festivals  of  Passover,  Pentecost, 
and  Tabernacles.  The  Synagogue  was  also  a  very  important 
local  factor  in  the  hfe  of  the  people.  It  served  as  town- 
house,  school,  and  church — a  community  center  for  the  dis- 
trict in  which  it  stood.  In  the  third  place  the  Law,  together 
with  the  persons  and  means  employed  in  its  interpretation, 
occupied  a  large  place  in  the  hfe  of  the  people.  To  them  the 
Law  embodied  God's  will  for  every  phase  of  thought  and 
action,  hence  the  especial  significance  attaching  to  the  pro- 
fession of  the  scribe  and  to  the  oral  tradition  by  means  of 
which  the  ancient  teaching  was  elaborated  and  made  appli- 
cable to  the  conditons  of  life  in  later  times. 


252         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

2.  The  various  parties,  though  in  reaHty  their  significance 
was  often  quite  as  great  poKtically  as  reKgiously,  not  only 
represent  special  phases  in  the  development  of  Jewish  religion 
but  constitute  the  setting  for  much  early  Christian  activity 
and  thinking.  The  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  are  the  parties 
most  frequently  mentioned,  but  the  Zealots  ought  not  to  be 
ignored.  In  fact,  their  place  in  the  history  and  life  of  the 
period  is  probably  greater  than  we  have  been  accustomed 
to  imagine  on  the  basis  of  the  infrequency  with  which  they 
are  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament.  Still  other  parties, 
such  as  the  Zadokites  and  the  Essenes,  represent  important 
tendencies  within  Judaism  at  the  beginning  of  the  Chris- 
tian era. 

3.  Furthermore,  the  religious  thinking  of  that  day  had 
crystalhzed  into  several  distinct  doctrines  which  suppHed  a 
point  of  departure,  and  often  largely  the  content,  for  early 
Christian  speculations.  The  different  notions  which  the  Jews 
entertained  regarding  the  Kingdom  of  God,  the  relation  in 
which  they  set  the  Messiah  to  the  Kingdom,  and  the  plans 
which  they  outlined  for  the  consummation  of  their  hopes  are 
all  items  of  fundamental  significance  for  the  rise  and  early 
development  of  Christianity. 

Jewish  literature. — Finally,  it  should  be  noted  that 
the  vital  experience  of  the  Jewish  people  found  partial  expres- 
sion in  a  distinctly  religious  literature,  a  portion  of  which  has 
come  down  to  us.  Sometimes  students  of  early  Christianity, 
in  pursuing  the  literary  side  of  their  investigation,  have 
passed  directly  from  the  Old  Testament  to  the  earliest 
Christian  writings.  But  in  the  interim,  and  contemporary 
with  the  rise  of  a  Christian  hterature,  important  Jewish 
documents  were  produced,  a  knowledge  of  which  is  now 
recognized  as  absolutely  essential  to  the  proper  equipment  of 
one  who  is  to  study  early  Christianity.  This  survey  of 
hterature  should  include  not  only  those  books  commonly 
referred  to  as  Apocrypha  and  Pseudepigrapha,  but  all  other 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  253 

Jewish  documents,  especially  such  extensive  works  as  the 
writings  of  Philo  and  Josephus  and  the  earher  portions  of  the 
Talmud. 

Literature. — The  two  standard  collections  of  extra-biblical  Jewish 
documents  are  E.  Kautzsch,  Die  Apokryphen  und  Pseudepigraphen  des- 
Alteii  Testaments,  2  vols.  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1900),  and  R.  H.  Charles, 
The  Apocrypha  and  Pseudepigrapha  oj  the  Old  Testament,  2  vols.  (Oxford: 
Clarendon  Press,  1913).  These,  it  should  be  remembered,  do  not  con- 
tain Philo,  Josephus,  or  the  Talmud.  The  best  critical  edition  of  Philo 
is  that  of  L.  Cohn  and  P.  Wendland,  Philonis  Alexandrini  opera  (Berlin: 
Reimer,  1896-) ,  of  which  six  volumes  have  already  appeared.  A  German 
translation  under  the  editorship  of  L.  Cohn,  Die  Werke  Philos  von 
Alexandria  (Breslau:  Marcus,  1909),  is  in  course  of  preparation,  and 
two  volumes  have  already  been  published.  There  is  an  English  trans- 
lation (out  of  print)  by  C.  D.  Yonge  in  four  volumes  (London:  Bohn, 
1854-55).  The  works  of  Josephus  are  available  in  the  critical  edition 
of  B.  Niese,  Flavii  losephi  opera,  6  vols.  (Berlin:  Weidmann,  1888-95). 
A  convenient  English  version  is  that  of  W.  Whiston  newly  edited  by 
D.  S.  Margoliouth,  The  Works  of  Flavins  Josephus  (New  York:  Button 
[n.d.]).  For  literature  on  the  Talmud  see  M.  Mielziner,  Introduction 
to  the  Talmud,  2d  ed.  (New  York:  Funk  &  Wagnalls,  1902),  or  H.  L. 
Strack,  Einleitung  in  den  Talmud,  4.  Aufl.  (Leipzig:   Hinrichs,  1908). 

The  most  comprehensive  modern  work  on  Judaism  in  the  period 
under  discussion  is  E.  Schiirer,  Geschichte  des  jiidischen  Volkes  im  Zeit- 
alter  Jesu  Christi,  3  vols.,  4.  Aufl.  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1901-9;  English 
translation,  History  of  the  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of  Jesus  Christ,  7  vols. 
[New  York:  Scribner,  1891]).  There  are  also  many  briefer  but  valuable 
works,  e.g.,  W.  Fairweather,  The  Background  of  the  Gospels  (New  York: 
Scribner,  1908);  S.  Mathews,  The  History  of  New  Testament  Times  in 
Palestine,  2d  ed.  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1910);  0.  Holtzmann,  Neu- 
testamentliche  Zeitgeschichte,  2.  Aufl.  (Tiibingen:  Mohr,  1906);  W. 
Bousset,  Die  Religion  des  Judentums  in  neutestamentlichen  Zeitalter,  2. 
Aufl.  (Berlin:  Reuther  und  Reichard,  1906);  A.  Bertholet,  Die  jiidische 
Religion  von  der  Zeit  Ezras  his  zum  Zeitalter  Christi  (Tubingen:  Mohr, 
191 1);  J .  Jusier,  Les  J uifs dans  r empire  romain,  2  vols.  (Paris:  Geuthner, 
1914). 

IV.    THE  WORK  OF  JESUS 

Jesus'  relation  to  Judaism. — John  the  Baptist,  Jesus,  and 
the  disciples  immediately  associated  with  him  were  all  Jews, 


254        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

and  their  activity  constituted  an  integral  part  of  the  Judaism 
of  their  day.  In  a  history  of  Judaism  they  would  take  their 
place  beside  the  Zealots,  the  Zadokites,  the  Essenes,  the 
hermit  Banus,  and  other  reformers  and  preachers  whose 
activity  was  called  forth  by  the  conditions  of  unrest  peculiar 
to  that  particular  period  in  the  history  of  the  Jewish  people. 
But  the  reform  movement  begun  by  John  the  Baptist,  con- 
tinued and  transformed  by  Jesus,  perpetuated  and  expanded 
by  his  followers,  ultimately  became  differentiated  from 
Judaism  and  was  called  Christianity.  Hence  the  student  of 
early  Christianity  quite  properly  emphasizes  the  work  of 
Jesus  as  especially  important  for  the  history  of  the  new 
religion's  beginnings. 

Jesus'  relation  to  John  the  Baptist. — At  first  Jesus  himself 
was  a  disciple  of  John,  and  the  earliest  stages  in  his  activity 
cannot  be  understood  without  first  noting  the  character  of 
John's  work.  Full  knowledge  of  John's  career  and  message  is 
difficult  to  obtain.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  vigorous 
moral  reformer,  a  stormy  preacher  of  the  desert,  who  called 
upon  men  to  repent  and  be  baptized  in  preparation  for  the 
coming  judgment.  His  activity  brought  to  expression  a 
prominent  phase  of  Jewish  faith,  viz.,  the  beUef  that  ulti- 
mately God  would  interfere  on  Israel's  behalf  and  estabhsh 
a  new  order  of  things.  John  proclaimed  the  necessity  of 
repentance  and  purification  among  Jews  themselves  as 
a  prehminary  to  the  consummation  of  their  hope.  His 
invectives  were  hurled  against  high  and  low  ahke,  but  with 
disastrous  results  for  the  prophet  himself.  Herod  Antipas 
became  offended  at  his  preaching,  cast  him  into  prison,  and 
ultimately  put  him  to  death.  Josephus  {Ant.,  XVIII,  v,  2) 
says  that  Herod  feared  lest  John  might  instigate  a  revolt, 
a  statement  which  may  imply  that  John  was  disposed  to 
dabble  in  pohtics.  But  of  this  we  cannot  be  certain.  We 
do  know  that  the  burden  of  his  message  was  rehgious,  and  in 
this  lay  its  significance  for  our  present  study. 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  255 

It  is  clear  that  Jesus  received  baptism  at  the  hands  of 
John,  but  in  almost  all  other  respects  the  relation  between 
the  two  remains  a  perplexing  problem.  Among  the  early 
Christians  who  preserved  our  gospel  tradition  there  was 
variation  of  opinion  on  many  points.  Some  statements  imply 
that  John  stood  to  Jesus  in  the  relation  of  the  promised 
Ehjah  to  the  Messiah  (Mark  1:2-5;  9'ii~i3;  cf.  Matt. 
17:9-13),  while  other  parts  of  the  tradition  make  John  dis- 
tinctly deny  that  he  is  Elijah  (John  1:21).  Similarly,  in 
some  sections  of  the  narrative  he  positively  aflfirms  his  belief 
in  Jesus'  messiahship  and  makes  the  announcement  of  this 
fact  his  chief  mission  (John  1:6-8,  19-34),  yet  in  other  con- 
nections his  belief  in  the  messiahship  of  Jesus  is  quite  doubt- 
ful (Matt.  11:2-6;  Luke  7:18-23).  But  apart  from  these 
attempts  to  define  the  official  relationship  of  these  two  indi- 
viduals to  one  another,  the  question  of  more  fundamental 
interest  is  what  Jesus'  personal  reaction  toward  John's 
movement  actually  was  and  how  far  Jesus  received  from  John 
vital  stimulus  for  his  own  future  work.  This  is  the  point  of 
special  interest  for  the  historical  student.  The  continuation 
of  the  Johannine  movement  side  by  side  with  the  movement 
inaugurated  by  Jesus,  though  only  incidentally  mentioned  in 
the  New  Testament  (Mark  2:18;  John  3:22;  4:1  ff.;  Acts 
18:25;  19:35  f.),  is  also  an  important  item  for  the  early  history 
of  Christianity. 

The  task  of  the  biographer. — In  examining  Jesus'  own 
career  the  student  is  confronted  at  the  outset  by  the  fact 
that  Jesus  occupies  a  twofold  position  in  the  history  of  early 
Christianity.  In  the  first  place  he  gathered  about  him  a 
group  of  hearers  to  whom  he  imparted  instruction  reflecting 
his  own  personal  rehgious  experience  and  living.  Secondly, 
after  his  death  he  came  to  hold  in  the  thinking  of  believers  a 
new  position  at  God's  right  hand  in  heaven.  He  now  pos- 
sessed truly  official  dignity  and  was  expected  to  return  at  an 
early  date  to  set  up  the  messianic  kingdom  upon  earth.     The 


256        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

consciousness  of  this  distinction  between  the  earthly  Jesus  of 
past  history  and  the  heavenly  Christ  of  present  faith  is 
reflected  in  such  a  statement  as  Acts  2:36  to  the  effect  that 
through  the  resurrection  God  had  made  the  crucified  Jesus  to 
be  both  Lord  and  Christ  (Messiah). 

Although  the  Jesus  of  history  and  the  Christ  of  faith  were 
thus  originally  distinguished,  the  meaning  of  this  distinction 
was  soon  lost  as  beHevers  reflected  upon  the  earthly  career 
of  Jesus  in  the  light  of  their  new-found  faith  in  his  heavenly 
exaltation.  They  were  now  able  to  see  in  many  of  his  words 
and  deeds  a  much  more  elevated  significance  than  they  had 
observed  while  he  was  with  them.  This  failure  to  appreciate 
his  full  dignity  while  upon  earth  was  not  credited  to 
any  lack  in  him,  but  was  quite  their  own  fault.  Either  they 
had  been  unduly  stupid,  or  else  for  some  good  reason  their 
eyes  for  the  moment  had  been  blinded.  By  this  course  of 
reasoning  they  were  able  in  the  course  of  time  to  discover 
in  the  earthly  Hfe  of  Jesus  practically  the  same  official 
dignity  and  glory  which  they  now  attached  to  his  person  in 
heaven. 

The  task  of  the  modern  student  of  the  Hfe  of  Jesus  is 
made  especially  difficult  by  this  situation.  All  the  direct 
sources  of  information  at  present  available  date  from  a  time 
when  this  process  of  reinterpreting  the  life  of  Jesus  had  been 
going  on  for  twenty  years  or  more.  The  problem  could  be 
easily  solved  if  it  were  simply  a  question  of  reproducing  this 
or  that  picture  of  Jesus  as  set  forth  by  one  or  another  of  his 
early  interpreters.  But  today  the  task  of  the  historian  is 
much  more  difficult  since  he  must  endeavor  to  determine  what 
features  in  the  sources  represent  the  early  Christians'  interest 
in  the  heavenly  Christ  and  what  data  relate  to  the  earthly 
Jesus  as  he  actually  appeared  to  the  people  who  associated 
with  him  during  his  public  ministry.  To  be  sure,  the  believers' 
new  appreciation  of  Jesus  after  his  death  is  as  much — or 
more — a  part  of  the  history  of  early  Christianity  as  is  the 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  257 

story  of  his  earthly  career.  But  the  former  belongs  in  the 
history  of  the  early  community  subsequent  to  his  death,  and 
not  in  a  strictly  historical  biography  of  Jesus. 

The  character  of  the  sources. — In  view  of  this  peculiar 
problem  the  student  ought  first  to  note  the  general  character  of 
the  sources  of  information  and  the  varied  portraits  of  Jesus 
there  presented. 

Paul's  epistles  are  the  oldest  extant  Christian  documents, 
but  Paul  is  interested  almost  exclusively  in  Christ  spiritually 
present  in  the  believer  and  soon  to  come  upon  the  clouds  in 
glory.  Yet  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  Paul  shows  Uttle  or  no 
disposition  to  superimpose  the  official  dignity  of  the  heavenly 
Christ  upon  the  earthly  Jesus.  While,  in  Paul's  thinking, 
Jesus  was  a  pre-existent  divine  personality,  his  career  upon 
earth  was  one  of  almost  abnormal  humility  and  lowHness. 
In  fact,  this  point  is  especially  stressed  by  Paul  (e.g.,  Phil. 
2:5  ff.).  But,  unfortunately  for  our  present  needs,  Paul  has 
mentioned  only  incidentally  a  few  items  in  connection  with 
the  teaching  and  activity  of  Jesus.  At  an  early  date  Paul 
had  several  points  of  intimate  contact  with  Christians,  and 
a  careful  reading  of  his  epistles,  with  a  view  to  discovering 
incidental  information  about  Jesus'  earthly  career,  may  be 
expected  to  yield  some  valuable  results  (e.g..  Gal.  3:13; 
4:4;  I  Cor.  11:23  ff.;  15:5;  II  Cor.  8:9;  10:1;  Rom.  7:1; 
15:3;  Phil.  2:5). 

The  Gospel  of  Mark  shows  much  advance  over  Paul's 
letters  in  assigning  official  dignity  to  the  earthly  Jesus.  The 
author  of  this  Gospel  is  sufficiently  well  informed  regarding  the 
actual  history  to  observe  that  this  heightened  significance 
of  Jesus  was  not  generally  appreciated  prior  to  his  death  by 
even  his  most  intimate  associates  (e.g.,  1:22;  4:41;  5:31; 
6:51  f.;  8:17-21,32;  9:10,32;  10:32).  But  Mark  himself 
labors  under  no  such  hmitations.  The  disciples  had  been 
unable  to  understand  certain  words  and  deeds  of  the  earthly 
Jesus  previous  to  his  resurrection  (cf.  9:9  f.),  but  now  he  has 


258        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

arisen,  and  in  the  light  of  this  new  behef  Mark  is  able  to  under- 
stand everything.  On  the  strength  of  this  assurance  he  col- 
lects, arranges,  and  interprets  the  gospel  story  to  meet  the 
needs  of  the  particular  readers  he  has  in  mind,  at  the  same 
time  endeavoring  to  do  justice  to  the  person  of  Jesus  as  the 
official  founder  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  Before  this 
oldest  extant  gospel  can  be  properly  employed  as  a  source  of 
biographical  information  about  Jesus,  the  pragmatic  interests 
of  the  author  must  be  taken  carefully  into  account. 

The  same  demand  must  be  met  in  the  case  of  Matthew  and 
Luke.  While  they  use  Mark  as  one  of  their  chief  sources,  and 
so  carry  over  into  the  career  of  Jesus  Mark's  interest  in  the 
heavenly  Christ,  they  also  attempt  interpretations  on  their 
own  account.  In  fact,  they  excel  Mark  in  this  art.  The 
latter  begins  with  the  baptism  as  the  moment  when  Jesus 
became  distinctive  through  a  special  anointing  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  but  both  Matthew  and  Luke  point  out  that  Jesus  at 
the  very  first  was  begotten  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  author 
of  John  carries  the  thought  still  farther,  making  the  whole 
earthly  career  of  Jesus  virtually  the  activity  of  an  incarnate 
Deity.  A  similar  interest  dominates  the  fragmentary  remains 
of  other  ancient  gospels,  as  well  as  the  remainder  of  the  New 
Testament  books,  in  so  far  as  they  take  any  account  at  all  of 
Jesus'  earthly  life. 

Since  our  sources  of  information  are  all  interpretative  in 
character,  and  strongly  influenced  by  the  Christians'  later 
confidence  in  Jesus'  official  position  as  Messiah,  the  student 
must  use  rigid  critical  processes  in  treating  these  sources  if  he 
would  recover  even  an  approximately  correct  portrait  of  the 
historical  individual  Jesus  as  distinct  from  the  heavenly 
Christ  of  primitive  Christian  faith. 

Tests  for  determining  the  historicity  of  tradition, — How 
can  the  historicity  of  tradition  be  fixed  ?  In  the  first  place 
there  is  the  test  of  literary  analysis  by  means  of  which  the 
older  elements  in  the  gospel   story  are  recovered.     Since  a 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  259 

comparison  of  Matthew  with  Luke  shows  at  a  glance  that 
they  both  used  not  only  Mark  but  other  common  source 
materials  not  contained  in  Mark,  it  is  possible  to  reconstruct 
in  a  fragmentary  way  a  body  of  non-Markan  tradition  ante- 
dating both  Matthew  and  Luke.  This  earHer  document,  or 
these  earlier  documents  (Luke  1:1-4),  a-^e  probably  older 
than  Mark,  although  they  have  not  been  directly  used  by 
him.  In  the  case  of  Mark  also  it  is  possible  to  discover  certain 
strata  of  tradition,  such,  for  example,  as  the  parables  of 
chap.  4,  which  he  probably  took  over  from  earher  documents. 
A  thoroughgoing  literary  criticism  will  endeavor  to  fix  as  far  as 
possible  the  relative  age  of  all  the  different  constituent  ele- 
ments which  have  gone  into  the  making  of  gospel  tradition  as 
it  exists  at  present. 

But  Hterary  criticism  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  final  test 
of  historicity.  Even  the  oldest  recoverable  source  was  com- 
posed from  ten  to  twenty  years  after  Jesus'  death,  and  the 
motives  prompting  composition  were  supphed  by  conditions 
within  the  expanding  life  of  Christianity.  While  it  is  true 
that  in  these  early  days  memory  of  the  earthly  Jesus  was 
still  fresher  than  in  subsequent  times,  yet  it  is  also  true  that 
Christianity  in  the  earher  period  had  its  pecuhar  problems 
and  ways  of  thinking,  in  the  light  of  which  the  earliest  recover- 
able document  was  composed.  Its  author  must  have  selected, 
arranged,  interpreted,  and  supplemented  his  materials  if  he 
sought  to  minister  to  the  needs  of  his  immediate  environment 
— and  he  could  hardly  have  had  any  other  motive  for  com- 
position. Nor  is  a  portion  of  tradition  which  first  comes  to 
light  in  a  later  document — say  in  Luke  only  or  in  John  only — 
unhistorical  simply  in  virtue  of  its  late  emergence.  There  were 
many  persons  who  remembered  Jesus  and  who  talked  much 
about  him  after  his  death,  and  it  is  not  at  all  probable  that  all 
the  rehable  things  said  by  them  were  taken  up  into  the  written 
sources  used  in  common  by  Matthew,  Luke,  and  John.  It  is 
quite  possible  that  some  perfectly  reliable  information  may 


26o        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

have  come  into  the  possession  of  one  or  another  of  these 
writers  independently. 

Ultimately  one  must  apply  what  ma}'  be  called  the  prag- 
matic test  for  determining  the  historicity  of  tradition.  If 
anything  is  ascribed  to  Jesus  which  is  out  of  harmony  with 
the  age  and  environment  in  which  he  lived,  but  is  more  closely 
akin  to  the  problems  arising  during  the  expansion  of  the  new 
movement  in  the  years  following  his  death,  that  feature  in  the 
tradition  cannot  be  safely  connected  with  the  historical  Jesus. 
Even  if  one  should  assume  that  Jesus  may  have  anticipated 
the  future  situation,  one  must  still  reckon  with  the  fact  that 
certainly  the  disciples  did  not  share  this  forward  look,  and 
consequently  were  unprepared  for  the  reception  of  any  such 
teaching.  On  the  other  hand,  the  work  of  Jesus,  as  deter- 
mined by  his  own  particular  situation,  did  influence  extensively 
the  subsequent  career  of  his  followers;  hence  many  features 
in  the  life  of  the  early  Christian  movement  may  reasonably  be 
traced  back  to  his  words  or  deeds.  Here  the  pragmatic  test 
yields  constructive  results  by  pointing  to  items  of  later  tra- 
dition which  show  logical  continuity  with  the  situation  of 
earlier  times. 

Chronological  and  geographical  data. — The  constructive 
task  of  the  student  of  the  Hfe  of  Jesus  revolves  about  certain 
main  problems,  one  of  which  is  the  recovery  of  the  chrono- 
logical and  geographical  outhne  of  Jesus'  career.  Mark,  it 
may  be  observed,  presents  one  schema,  while  John  follows  a 
very  different  outline.  Matthew  and  Luke  reproduce  Mark 
in  the  main,  although  each  makes  a  few  unimportant  changes. 
Neither  Hterary  criticism  nor  pragmatic  considerations  yield 
any  very  certain  results  in  this  field.  The  student  may  have 
to  content  himself  with  following  the  outhne  of  Mark,  incom- 
plete and  unsatisfactory  as  it  is.  Certainly  no  historian  would 
attempt  an  uncritical  fusion  of  the  outHnes  of  John  and 
Mark  as  a  means  of  restoring  the  actual  course  of  Jesus' 
career. 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  261 

Jesus'  messianic  consciousness. — The  question  of  Jesus' 
self-consciousness  has  been  much  discussed  in  modern  times. 
Did  Jesus  regard  himself  as  the  Jewish  Messiah,  and  if  so  in 
what  sense  did  he  understand  messiahship  ?  In  order  to 
answer  these  questions  historically,  the  student  must  take  his 
stand  strictly  within  the  Jewish  world  where  Jesus  himself 
lived.  The  national  history  of  the  Jewish  people  had  been 
one  long  story  of  disappointed  hopes.  They  had  enjoyed  a 
period  of  national  independence  under  David  and  Solomon, 
but  their  subsequent  history  had  been  one  series  of  successive 
subjugations  by  Assyria,  Babylonia,  Persia,  Macedonia,  and 
Rome.  During  all  this  time  their  faith  in  their  God  Yahweh 
remained  unshaken.  They  were  his  chosen  people  and  some 
day  he  would  surely  come  to  their  aid,  restoring  their  inde- 
pendence and  elevating  them  to  a  position  of  supremacy 
among  the  nations. 

In  Jesus'  day  this  hope  was  current  in  two  principal  forms 
commonly  termed  by  moderns  (i)  the  national  and  (2)  the 
apocalyptic.  The  former  rested  upon  the  expectation  that  a 
Uneal  descendant  of  David  would  arise  when  the  time  for 
Israel's  deliverance  arrived.  This  Davidic  prince  would  be 
anointed — i.e.,  made  Messiah  (Anointed) — by  God  and 
would  miraculously  free  the  chosen  people  from  all  oppressors. 
It  was  this  hope  which  prompted  the  numerous  messianic 
uprisings  in  Palestine  between  the  years  6  and  135  a.d. 
There  were  other  Jews  who  had  lost  all  faith  in  earthly  princes, 
and  so  had  abandoned  the  messianic  hope  in  its  Davidic 
form.  Nevertheless  they  retained  their  faith  in  God  and 
redefined  their  hope  in  terms  of  a  purely  heavenly  Messiah,  an 
angelic  being  without  any  earthly  connections  whatsoever. 
He  was  of  purely  divine  origin  but  would  assume  the  likeness 
of  a  man  (cf.  Dan.  7:13)  when  he  came  upon  the  clouds  to 
set  up  the  new  kingdom.  With  his  appearing  the  present 
order  of  existence  would  come  to  an  end  and  the  Jewish 
nation  would  be  re-established  in  purity  and  peace  upon  a 


262         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

miraculously  renovated  earth.  Since  the  Messiah  of  this 
new  kingdom  was  to  be  ''revealed"  from  heaven,  this  type  of 
hope  has  been  termed  the  "apocalyptic." 

What  were  Jesus'  views  regarding  the  Jewish  messianic 
hope?  The  difficulty  of  answering  this  question  has  been 
greatly  enhanced  by  the  confusion  of  opinion  which  prevails 
in  the  Gospels.  At  one  time  he  is  given  Davidic  credentials, 
and  so  is  made  the  fulfiller  of  the  national  hope  (cf.  Luke  2:11). 
At  other  times  he  is  represented  as  denying  the  Davidic 
ancestry  of  the  Messiah  (Mark  12:35-37),  ^-nd  he  even  affirms 
that  after  death  he  himself  will  come  upon  the  clouds  and  thus 
fulfil  the  apocalyptic  rather  than  the  Davidic  hope  (Mark 
8:39;  9:1;  14:61  f.).  In  still  other  connections,  notably  in 
the  Gospel  of  John,  he  abandons  Jewish  imagery  almost 
entirely  and  defines  his  messiahship  in  terms  of  Hellenistic 
speculation  regarding  the  incarnate  Logos.  Another  favorite 
interpretation  of  Jesus'  messianic  consciousness,  popular  in 
later  times,  bases  his  claim  to  official  dignity  upon  his  sense  of 
special  ethical  and  spiritual  kinship  with  God  the  Father. 

No  doubt  the  situation  in  Jesus'  own  day  was  far  simpler 
than  that  depicted  in  the  Gospels,  or  in  later  Christian  think- 
ing when  different  interpreters  combined  different  types  of 
messianic  terminology  in  an  endeavor  to  establish  by  every 
possible  means  the  superior  official  dignity  of  the  heavenly 
Christ  of  Christian  faith.  The  modern  student  is  confronted 
by  the  difficult  task  of  threading  his  way  back  through  the 
almost  inextricable  tangle  of  later  opinion  to  the  more  primi- 
tive situation  of  Jesus.  The  following  possibilities  in  Jesus' 
thinking  have  to  be  considered: 

I.  Did  he  adopt  the  national  hope,  expecting  a  deliverance 
to  be  accomplished  by  means  of  a  revolution  against  Rome, 
whether  this  was  to  be  led  by  himself  or  by  another  ?  There 
certainly  is  very  scanty  evidence  for  supposing  that  he  enter- 
tained any  such  notion,  although  it  has  sometimes  been 
assumed  that  his  thinking  moved  in  this  realm. 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  263 

2.  Did  he  expect  redemption  through  the  coming  of  an 
angeKc  deliverer  ?  This  was  the  natural  alternative  for  a  Jew 
of  his  day  who  rejected  the  revolutionary  program.  But  this 
apocalyptic  hope  in  its  purely  Jewish  form  allowed  no  place 
for  a  present  earthly  Messiah.  The  apocalyptic  Messiah 
was  to  be  a  purely  heavenly  being. 

3.  Did  Jesus  so  transform  the  apocalyptic  hope  as  to  give 
the  divine  heavenly  Messiah  a  preliminary  human  career  upon 
earth  ?  He  is  thought  by  many  modern  interpreters  to  have 
done  so,  notwithstanding  the  difhculty  of  finding  in  his 
environment  an  adequate  incentive  for  so  radical  a  change  in 
Jewish  thinking.  Moreover,  it  is  very  easy  to  see  how  the 
disciples,  disappointed  in  their  first  hope  that  the  earthly 
Jesus  would  lead  a  messianic  revolution  when  the  fitting 
moment  arrived  (cf.  Mark  8:32  f.;  Luke  24:21;  Acts  1:6), 
might  apply  the  apocalyptic  imagery  to  him  after  his  death. 
In  their  new  faith,  attained  through  the  resurrection  appear- 
ances, he  was  now  a  heavenly  angelic  being  capable  of  func- 
tioning as  apocalyptic  Messiah. 

4.  Did  he  anticipate  Hellenistic  speculation  regarding  his 
personality,  considering  himself  the  Messiah  on  metaphysical 
grounds  ?  This  view  is  not  commonly  held  by  critical  scholars 
today,  although  the  importance  of  this  item  in  the  history  of 
Christology  is  generally  recognized. 

5.  Did  Jesus  claim  official  messianic  dignity  on  the  ground 
of  close  personal  rehgious  fellowship  with  God  ?  There  is 
much  to  prove  that  his  life  was  one  of  rich  spiritual  attain- 
ments, but  many  students  now  recognize  that  there  are  very 
slight  grounds  for  supposing  that  any  person  of  that  day,  how- 
ever rich  his  spiritual  experience  might  be,  would  find  in  this 
fact  a  basis  for  behef  in  official  messiahship. 

The  miracles  of  Jesus — Among  early  Christians  interest 
in  the  miraculous  character  of  both  the  person  and  work  of 
Jesus  kept  pace  with  the  growing  desire  to  emphasize  the 
official  dignity  of  his   earthly   career.     Paul,   for   example, 


264        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

gives  no  intimation  that  the  earthly  Jesus  performed  miracles, 
although  Paul  makes  abihty  to  work  miracles  in  the  name  of 
the  exalted  Christ  a  distinctive  credential  of  the  new  religion 
(cf.  Gal.  3:5;  II  Cor.  12:12;  I  Cor.  12:28).  In  the  earher 
elements  of  gospel  tradition  there  is  also  very  httle  said 
about  any  miracles  of  Jesus.  Here  his  distinctiveness  is 
shown  more  strikingly  by  his  religious  message  than  by  his 
marvelous  deeds.  But  in  Mark  he  is  first  of  all  the  miracle- 
worker.  The  wild  beasts  are  rendered  harmless  by  his  pres- 
ence in  the  wilderness,  and  the  people  in  the  synagogue  of 
Capernaum  are  astonished  at  his  power  over  the  demons.  It 
is  not  his  religious  message  which  strikes  them  with  awe,  but 
the  miraculous  power  of  his  commands — "with  authority  he 
commandeth  even  the  unclean  spirits  and  they  obey  him" 
(Mark  1:22,  27).  Matthew  and  Luke  follow  Mark  in  stress- 
ing the  miraculous.  And  in  John  Jesus'  whole  career  is  one 
glorious  display  of  supernatural  wisdom  and  power. 

This  growth  of  interest  in  the  miraculous  as  a  means  of 
heightening  the  dignity  of  the  earthly  Jesus  was  especially 
appropriate  to  a  Hellenistic  environment.  Gentiles  were 
particularly  susceptible  to  the  marvelous  as  attesting  heroes 
and  divinities.  Heroes  like  Hercules  and  deified  emperors 
like  Augustus  had,  according  to  popular  behef,  been  born  of  a 
divine  father  and  a  human  mother.  Such  stories  were  widely 
current  and  highly  esteemed.  Heroes  and  rulers  also  worked 
miracles,  as  happened  in  the  case  of  Vespasian,  for  instance. 
He  once  healed  a  man  with  a  withered  hand,  also  a  blind  man, 
in  Alexandria  where  "many  miracles  occurred,  by  which  the 
favor  of  heaven  and  a  sort  of  bias  in  the  powers  toward  Ves- 
pasian were  manifested"  (Tacitus  Hist.  iv.  81).  As  Chris- 
tians themselves  performed  miracles  in  the  name  of  Jesus, 
competing  with  the  ever-present  magician  and  with  vigorous 
heahng  cults  like  those  of  Asklepios,  the  value  of  a  miraculously 
begotten  and  miracle-working  Jesus  was  increasingly  appre- 
ciated. 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  265 

But  in  Jesus'  Jewish  environment  the  situation  was  some- 
what different.  There  probably  were  some  Jewish  magicians 
and  exorcists  in  Palestine  at  that  time,  and  they  doubtless 
enjoyed  a  measure  of  popularity,  especially  among  the  lower 
classes.  Yet  their  practices  were  prohibited  in  the  Law,  and 
persons  suspected  of  cultivating  these  arts  were  frowned 
upon  by  the  authorities  (Deut.  18:9-14;  Acts4:7).  Further- 
more, miracles  were  not  employed  extensively  to  attest 
Jewish  worthies.  They  did,  to  be  sure,  work  wonders  on 
occasion,  but  their  chief  significance  lay  in  their  teaching,  by 
which  they  communicated  a  message  from  God  to  his  chosen 
people.  In  spite  of  the  miracles  Moses  wrought,  he  was 
revered  chiefly  as  the  giver  of  the  Law;  while  great  prophets 
like  Amos,  Hosea,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  Ezekiel  were  almost 
exclusively  God's  spokesmen  with  no  credentials  other  than 
the  words  they  uttered.  Hence  it  was  very  natural  that 
the  earhest  element  of  gospel  tradition,  taking  shape  in 
Palestine  among  Jewish  Christians  and  for  use  in  the  Jewish 
mission,  should  have  given  almost  no  place  to  the  miracle- 
element  in  the  career  of  the  earthly  Jesus,  but  should  set  in  the 
foreground  his  remarkable  teaching. 

These  are  the  main  facts  which  the  student  has  to  take  into 
account  in  discussing  the  question  of  Jesus'  miraculous  person 
and  work.  Two  chief  questions  to  be  decided  are:  (i)  Did 
miracles  figure  as  prominently  in  Jesus'  own  career  as  they  do 
in  Mark's  portrait  of  him?  (2)  How  far  are  the  stories  of 
Jesus'  miraculous  birth  prompted  by  a  conviction  on  the  part 
of  early  interpreters  that  Jesus  must  have  been  thus  divinely 
begotten  since  he  surely  excelled  all  other  heroes  who  were 
similarly  authenticated  ? 

The  personal  religion  of  Jesus. — The  task  of  recovering 
information  about  Jesus'  personal  rehgious  hving  is  less 
difficult  than  that  of  determining^  the  truth  either  about  his 
messianic  consciousness  or  about  his  miracles.  In  the 
nature  of  the  case  the  personal  rehgion  of  Jesus  did  not  lend 


266        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

itself  so  readily  to  the  purposes  of  apologetic  on  behalf  of  the 
heavenly  Christ.  There  was,  to  be  sure,  a  tendency  to 
eliminate  from  his  Hf e  all  genuine  personal  rehgious  experience 
and  activity,  as  well  as  a  disposition  to  make  him  the  ideal 
Christian  of  later  times.  But  these  tendencies  may  be  dis- 
covered with  comparative  ease,  and  our  abundant  information 
about  Jewish  life  in  Jesus'  day,  together  with  the  information 
recoverable  from  the  Gospels,  enables  one  to  reconstruct  a 
fairly  distinct  picture  of  Jesus'  own  religious  career.  In 
attempting  to  restore  this  portrait  the  student  should  have  in 
mind  such  topics  as  the  following: 

1 .  Jesus  received  a  rich  heritage  from  his  Jewish  home  and 
family  connections.  He  was  not  a  trained  rabbi  but  a  village 
carpenter,  yet  he  was  devoutly  religious.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances his  rehgion  could  hardly  be  of  the  scholastic  type, 
but  would  contain  more  emotional  and  mystical  features. 

2.  Jesus  employed  with  particular  vividness  the  figures  of 
fatherhood  and  sonship  to  portray  the  ideal  relationsHip 
between  God  and  man.  In  this  connection  we  are  reminded 
that  Jesus  had  hstened  to  John  the  Baptist  preach  about  an 
angry  God  for  whose  coming  in  judgment  men  must  prepare 
themselves.  When  Jesus  began  independent  work  he  seems 
to  have  done  so  under  a  conviction  that  God  would  help  men 
prepare  because  he  really  loved  men. 

3.  The  method  of  Jesus  is  also  striking.  This  perhaps 
reveals  more  clearly  than  anything  else  the  real  genius  of  his 
religion.  John  preached  in  the  wilderness  where  men  came 
to  him,  and  the  professional  rabbi  often  estabhshed  a  school 
to  which  pupils  resorted,  but  Jesus  went  to  the  people.  He 
traveled  about  among  the  synagogues,  he  talked  to  crowds  in 
the  city  street  or  beside  the  sea,  and  apparently  sought  espe- 
cially to  reach  the  masses.  This  method  was  well  suited  to 
produce  trouble  for  the  teaj:her  in  case  his  message  proved  to 
be  unwelcome  to  the  authorities,  but  it  accorded  well  with 
Jesus'  notion  of  God's  desire  to  help  all  men. 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  267 

4.  Jesus  seems  to  have  worked  under  the  pressure  of  oppo- 
sition during  almost  his  entire  career.  His  aggressive  method 
tended  to  arouse  hostiHty,  and  the  mystical  strain  in  his  reh- 
gion,  together  with  his  apparent  bias  toward  nonconformity, 
made  it  difficult  for  him  to  understand  the  Jewish  leaders  of  the 
day  and  impossible  for  them  to  understand  him.  Conse- 
quently his  was  the  religious  experience  of  one  who  suffered 
persecution  even  unto  martyrdom. 

5.  One  of  the  most  significant  items  in  the  history  of  early 
Christianity  is  the  fact  that  Jesus'  religious  personality 
impressed  itself  so  strongly  upon  an  inner  group  of  his  dis- 
ciples. His  Jewish  heritages,  his  mystical  leanings,  his 
aggressiveness,  and  his  persistence  even  under  persecution 
were  all  reproduced  more  or  less  perfectly  in  the  careers  of  his 
followers.  The  power  of  his  influence  upon  them  was  remark- 
able, and  this  fact  serves  to  reveal  his  own  character  as  a 
religious  individual. 

Jesus'  place  in  early  Christianity. — Although  Jesus  was 
put  to  death  before  any  formal  organization  of  the  Christian 
movement  had  taken  place,  still  he  is  commonly  regarded  as 
the  founder  of  this  organization.  To  be  sure,  as  the  details 
of  organization  were  worked  out  to  meet  later  necessities  there 
was  a  natural  disposition  to  seek  the  authority  of  Jesus  for  the 
course  of  the  development.  He  was  now  thought  to  have 
accepted  baptism  by  John  in  order  to  establish  the  Christian 
rite — "thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness"  (Matt. 
3:15).  It  was  also  believed  that  Jesus  had  installed  Peter  as 
head  of  the  new  organization  (Matt.  16:18  f.).  The  last 
meal  which  Jesus  had  eaten  informally  with  the  disciples  now 
came  to  be  viewed  as  the  deliberate  establishment  of  a  Chris- 
tian rite  which  he  had  designed  to  be  perpetuated  in  his 
memory  (Luke  22:19;  I  Cor.  11:25-27).  Similarly,  after 
the  leaders  of  the  new  movement  rather  tardily  arrived  at 
the  conviction  of  a  world-wide  mission  they  felt  assured 
that  Jesus  himself  had  intended  this  result  and  had  in  fact 


268        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

commissioned  them  to  make  disciples  of  all  nations  (Matt. 
28 :  19) .  These  matters  all  belong  in  the  history  of  the  expand- 
ing movement  subsequent  to  Jesus'  death,  and  Jesus  cannot 
be  regarded  as  the  immediate  founder  of  the  new  ecclesiastical 
organization  which  gradually  evolved  in  the  Apostolic  Age. 

But  is  he  not  the  author  of  the  Christian  doctrine,  and  so 
the  founder  of  Christianity  in  the  sense  that  he  authenticated 
its  theology?  On  this  point  also  historical  investigation 
casts  some  doubts.  Early  Christian  dogma  centered  about 
the  official  heavenly  Christ  and  only  gradually  did  behevers 
come  to  think  of  the  earthly  Jesus  as  authenticating  the  spe- 
cifically new  doctrines  of  Christianity.  In  fact,  the  new 
movement  "Christianity"  took  its  name,  not  from  Jesus, 
but  from  the  exalted  Christ. 

Nevertheless  Jesus'  actual  contribution  to  the  rise  of 
Christianity  is  really  more  significant  than  might  at  first  sight 
appear.  But  the  historian  must  look  for  this  significance  in 
the  sphere  of  personal  daily  contact  between  Jesus  and  his 
associates  rather  than  in  the  realm  of  formality  and  officialism. 
It  was  in  daily  life  that  the  disciples  received  their  most  endur- 
ing impressions  of  him,  as  well  as  those  ideals  of  piety  and 
devotion  exemplified  in  the  propagation  of  their  new  faith. 

Literature. — On  John  the  Baptist  see  W.  Baldensperger,  Der  Prolog 
des  vierten  Evangeliums  (Freiburg:  Mohr,  1898);  H.  Oort,  "MattheiisX 
en  de  Johannes-Gemeenten,"  Theologisch  Tijdschrift,  XLVII  (1908),  299- 
333;  M.  Dib&lius,  Die  urchristliche  Uberliejerung  von  Johannes  dem 
Tdufer  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  191 1).  Of  less  value 
is  A.  Blakiston,  John  the  Baptist  and  His  Relation  to  Jesus  (London:  Ben- 
nett, 1912). 

Books  on  the  life  of  Jesus  are  legion.  Most  of  them  are  critically 
summarized  in  A.  Schweitzer,  Geschichte  der  Lehen-Jesu-Forschung, 
2.  Aufl.  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1913;  English  translation.  The  Quest  of  the 
Historical  Jesus  [London:  Black,  1910]).  A  less  detailed  but  more 
readable  summary  is  given  by  H.  Weinel,  Jesus  im  neunzehnten  Jahr- 
hundert,  8.  Aufl.  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1907,;  English  translation  with 
additions,  H.  Weinel  and  A.  G.  Widgery,  Jesus  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 
and  After  [New  York:  Scribner,  1914]).    The  literature  on  the  recently 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  269 

debated  question  of  Jesus'  existence  is  listed  and  appraised  in  S.  J.  Case, 
The  Historicity  of  Jesus  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  191 2). 

One  group  of  lives  of  Jesus  may  be  termed  harmonistic,  since  they 
combine  the  gospel  data  without  attempting  to  estimate  the  relative 
historical  reliability  of  the  different  elements  in  the  tradition.  Typical 
of  this  class  is  A.  Edersheim,  The  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus  the  Messiah, 
2  vols.,  8th  ed.  (New  York:  Longmans,  1896). 

Representatives  of  more  critical  views  differ  somewhat  widely 
among  themselves.  The  earlier  stages  of  critical  work  may  be  seen  in 
D.  F.  Strauss,  The  Life  of  Jesus  Critically  Examined,  translated  from  the 
fourth  German  edition  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1898);  T.  Keim,  The 
History  of  Jesus  of  Nazara,  6  vols.,  translated  from  the  German  (London: 
Williams  &  Norgate,  1876-83);  W.  Beyschlag,  Das  Lehen  Jesu,  2  Bde., 
3.  Aufl.  (Halle  a.  S.:  Strien,  1893);  B.  Weiss,  Das  Leben  Jesu,  4.  Aufl. 
(Stuttgart:  Gotta,  1902;  English  translation.  The  Life  of  Jesus,  3  vols. 
[New  York:   Scribner,  1883-89]). 

Among  more  recent  writers  some  rely  chiefly  upon  Mark,  with  its 
apocalyptic  emphasis,  to  furnish  the  most  accurate  historical  picture 
of  Jesus;  e.g.,  O.  Holtzmann,  Das  Leben  Jesu  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1901; 
English  translation,  The  Life  of  Jesus  [New  York:  Macmillan,  1904]);  W. 
Sanday,  The  Life  of  Christ  in  Recent  Research  (New  York:  Oxford  Uni- 
sity  Press,  1907);  A.  Loisy,  Jesus  et  la  tradition  evangelique  (Paris: 
Nourry,  19 10). 

Other  biographers  make  the  non-Markan  materials  common  to 
Matthew  and  Luke  (i.e.,  the  "Logia,"  or  "Q")  more  normative;  e.g., 
W.  Bousset, /e.jM^,  3.  Aufl.  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1907;  English  translation, 
Jesus  [Nevf  York:  Putnam,  1906]);  A.  Reville,  Jesus de Nazareth  (Paris: 
Fischbacher,  1897);  C.  Piepenbring,  Jesus  historique  (Paris:  Nourry, 
1909);  G.  H.  Gilbert,  Jesus  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1912);  F.  L. 
Anderson,  The  Man  of  Nazareth  (New  York:   Macmillan,  1914)- 

Special  studies  on  Jesus'  messianic  consciousness,  stressing  the 
apocalyptic  side  of  his  thinking,  are  J.  Weiss,  Die  Predigt  Jesu  vom  Reiche 
Gottes,  2.  Aufl.  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1900);  W. 
Baldensperger,  Das  Selbstbewusstsein  Jesu  im  Lichte  der  messianischen 
Hoffnungen  seiner  Zeit,  2.  Aufl.  (Strassburg:  Heitz,  1892);  H.  J.  Holtz- 
mann, Das  messianische  Bewusstsein  Jesu  (Tubingen :  Mohr,  1907) ;  E.  F. 
Scott,  The  Kingdom  and  the  Messiah  (New  York:  Scribner,  191 1);  S. 
Mathews,  The  Messianic  Hope  in  the  New  Testament  (Chicago:  The 
University  of  Chicago  Press,  1905).  Works  which  subordinate  apoca- 
lypticism in  Jesus'  consciousness  are,  for  example,  E.  von  Dobschiitz, 
The  Eschatology  of  the  Gospels  (London:   Hodder  &  Stoughton,    1910); 


270        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

H.  L.  Jackson,  The  Eschatology  of  Jesus  (London:  Macmillan,  1913). 
All  messianic  consciousness  is  denied  to  Jesus  in  N.  Schmidt,  The  Prophet 
of  Nazareth  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1905);  W.  Wrede,  Das  Messiasge- 
heimniss  in  den  Evangelien  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht, 
1901);  F.  Goblet  d'AlvieUa,  L'Evolution  du  dogme  catholique,  I,  Les 
Origines  (Paris:  Nourry,  1912).  Cf.  also  H.  B.  Sharman,  The  Teaching 
of  Jesus  about  the  Future  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press, 
1909). 

On  the  miraculous  features  in  the  Gospels  see  J.  M.  Thompson, 
Miracles  in  the  New  Testament  (London:  Arnold,  191 2);  W.  Soltau,  Hat 
Jesus  Wunder  getan?  (Leipzig:  Dieterich,  1903);  P.  Lobstein,  Die  Lehre 
von  der  iihernalurlichen  Geburt  Christi,  2.  Aufl.  (Freiburg:  Mohr,  1896; 
English  translation.  The  Virgin  Birth  of  Christ  [New  York:  Putnam, 
1903]) ;  W.  Soltau,  Die  Geburtsgeschichte  Jesu  Christi  (Leipzig:  Dieterich, 
1902;  English  translation,  The  Birth  of  Jesus  Christ  [London:  Black, 
1903]);  A.  Meyer,  Die  Auferstehung  Christi  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1905); 
K.  Lake,  The  Historical  Evidence  for  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  (New 
York:  Putnam,  1907). 

For  the  teaching  of  Jesus  the  following  books  are  most  worthy  of 
note:  H.  H.  Wendt,  Die  Lehre  Jesu,  2  Bde.,  2.  Aufl.  (Gottingen:  Vanden- 
hoeck und  Ruprecht,  1901;  English  translation  of  second  volume.  The 
Teaching  of  Jesus,  2  vols.  [New  York:  Scribner,  1892]);  A.  Jiilicher, 
Die  Gleichnisreden  Jesu,  2.  Aufl.  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1910);  P.  Wernle, 
Die  Anfange  unserer  Religion,  2.  Aufl.  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1904,  pp.  1-82; 
English  translation,  The  Beginnings  of  Christianity,  2  vols.  [New  York: 
Putnam,  1903-4],  I,  1-116);  H.  J.  Holtz^mann,  Lehrbuch  der  neutesta- 
mentlichen  Theologie,  2  Bde.,  2.  Aufl.  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1911),  I,  159- 
420;  H.  Weinel,  Biblische  Theologie  des  Neuen  Testaments,  2.  Aufl. 
(Tubingen:  Mohr,  1913),  pp.  43-230. 

V.      PALESTINIAN  JEWISH  CHRISTIANITY 

Relative  importance  of  the  period. — The  Christian  move- 
ment began  in  Palestine,  but  only  a  minor  portion  of  its  early 
history  is  confined  to  this  territory.  In  fact,  Palestinians 
exerted  comparatively  little  influence  upon  the  movement 
outside  Palestine  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  in  70  a.d.  After 
135  A.D.  even  the  church  at  Jerusalem  was  composed  exclu- 
sively of  Gentiles,  and  Jew^ish  Christians  very  soon  came  to 
be  regarded  as  heretics  (e.g.,  the  Ebionites).     Consequently 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  271 

it  will  be  sufficient,  in  a  general  survey  of  the  history  of  early 
Christianity,  to  follow  the  career  of  the  Palestinian  Jewish 
communities  through  only  the  first  hundred  years  of  their 
existence,  at  the  same  time  noting  more  especially  the  earlier 
events  in  this  period. 

Sources  of  information. — The  first  difficulty  confronting 
the  student  is  lack  of  direct  sources  of  information.  All 
the  early  Christian  writings  now  extant  were  composed  in 
Greek,  while  the  mother-tongue  of  Palestinian  Christians  was 
Aramaic.  But  fortunately  Paul,  writing  between  the  years 
50  and  65  A. D.,  refers  occasionally  to  his  own  relations  with  the 
Palestinians.  Also  the  author  of  Acts  records  a  few  incidents 
in  the  history  previous  to  the  year  45  a.d.  and  touches  the 
Palestinian  community  again  in  connection  with  Paul's  last 
visit  to  Jerusalem.  While  the  writer  of  Acts  was  not  like  Paul 
in  being  a  contemporary  of  the  events  described,  yet  it  is  not 
improbable  that  he  availed  himself  of  some  early  sources  of 
information  both  written  and  oral.  Of  course  he  selected, 
supplemented,  and  explained  these  sources  with  a  view  to 
convincing  Theophilus  that  a  particular  interpretation  of 
Christian  history  was  the  valid  one  (Acts  1:1;  cf.  Luke  1:4). 
Nevertheless  some  reliable  information  is  probably  preserved 
in  the  early  chapters  of  Acts.  From  the  Gospels  also,  and 
particularly  from  the  Synoptists,  something  may  be  learned 
regarding  the  early  situation  in  Palestinian  communities. 
While  the  Gospels  as  they  now  stand  are  all  products  of  the 
gentile  mission,  some  of  the  sources  employed  in  their  composi- 
tion undoubtedly  arose  in  a  Palestinian  environment,  and  they 
often  reflect  the  special  problems  of  Jewish  Christians  in  the 
first  generation.  If  one  were  to  attempt  a  complete  restora- 
tion of  the  history  of  early  Palestinian  Christianity,  all  this 
literature  would  have  to  be  searched  for  such  items  as  might 
disclose  in  themselves  a  Palestinian  interest  and  provenance, 
as  distinct  both  from  the  situation  in  which  Jesus  himself  lived 
and  from  the  situation  in  gentile  fields. 


272         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Connections  with  Judaism. — One  fact  stands  out  very 
clearly  in  the  history  of  the  Palestinian  Christians.  They 
were  all  Jews  and  at  first  they  had  no  thought  of  breaking 
with  their  ancestral  faith.  Indeed  they  regarded  themselves 
as  the  true  Jews  and  apparently  conceived  their  chief,  if  not 
their  sole,  mission  to  be  that  of  estabHshing  within  Judaism  a 
reform  movement  which  would  lead  up  to  the  fulfilment  of  the 
Jewish  messianic  hope  when  Jesus  returned  upon  the  clouds. 
They  loyally  observed  Jewish  customs  and  adhered  strictly  to 
the  Law.  In  fact,  many  of  their  number  were  sure  that 
Gentiles  could  not  be  saved  unless  they  received  circumcision 
as  a  sign  of  their  right  to  the  Hebrew  salvation,  which  was  to 
be  God's  special  gift  to  the  Jews.  Other  Christians  were 
less  rigid  in  their  demands,  and  conceded  that  Gentiles  who 
accepted  the  Jewish  messianic  faith  as  reinterpreted  in  terms 
of  faith  in  the  heavenly  Christ  might  obtain  salvation.  Yet 
no  Jewish  Christian  was  at  liberty  to  neglect  any  of  the  reli- 
gious rites  pecuhar  to  his  own  people  (cf .  Gal.  2 :  i-i  i) .  These 
two  attitudes  were  represented  .in  Palestinian  Christianity 
throughout  its  entire  history,  although  the  more  conserva- 
tive disposition  seems  always  to  have  predominated.  It  is 
very  necessary  to  keep  in  mind  this  phase  of  primitive  Chris- 
tianity in  order  to  understand  the  Palestinians  themselves,  as 
well  as  the  circumstances  under  which  the  notion  of  gentile 
missions  arose. 

The  attainment  of  the  new  messianic  faith. — If  the  first 
Christians  were  so  emphatically  Jewish  in  their  leanings,  what 
constituted  their  distinctiveness  ?  This  lay  chiefly  in  their 
behef  that  the  apocalyptic  Jewish  Messiah  who  was  soon  to 
come  upon  the  clouds  was  none  other  than  the  earthly  Jesus 
who  had  died  on  thie  cross.  This,  it  should  be  noted,  consti- 
tuted a.  distinct  transformation  of  their  former  hope  that 
Jesus  while  on  earth  might  dehver  the  nation.  Even  as  late  as 
the  seventh  decade  of  the  first  century,  when  the  Gospel  of 
Mark  was  written,  it  was  still  remembered  that  the  disciples' 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  273 

hopes  previous  to  Jesus'  death  centered  upon  the  earthly  Jesus, 
and  so  upon  some  form  of  national  Davidic  dehverance  which 
he  as  their  leader  might  effect.  But  his  death  shattered  their 
hopes.  They  concluded  that  God  had  forsaken  Jesus,  and 
they  returned  to  their  former  occupations  thoroughly  dis- 
appointed. Then  came  the  visions  of  the  angehc  Jesus,  which 
led  them  to  beheve  that  he  had  escaped  from  Sheol  and 
ascended  to  heaven.  Now  they  were  able  to  renew  their 
messianic  hopes,  recasting  them  in  apocalyptic  form.  Since 
Jesus  was  in  heaven  was  he  not  really  the  individual  whom 
God  would  send  forth  to  establish  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
upon  earth  ?  This  possibility  quickly  became  a  conviction 
with  several  of  Jesus'  former  associates,  and  this  faith  consti- 
tuted the  most  distinctive'  mark  of  the  new  movement. 

There  is  ample  evidence  to  show  that  this  new  faith  was 
the  direct  result  of  visions  of  the  risen  Jesus  experienced  by  cer- 
tain leading  members  of  the  community  (e.g.,  I  Cor.  15:5-8), 
but  a  study  of  the  factors  involved  in  this  experience 
carries  one  over  into  the  realm  of  primitive  religious  psy- 
chology. The  main  historical  considerations  to  be  kept  in 
mind  when  investigating  the  subject  are: 

1.  Popular  thinking  in  that  day  moved  freely  in  the 
realm  of  what  moderns  would  call  supernaturalism.  Behef  in 
the  possibihty  and  reality  of  apparitions  was  firmly  established, 
especially  among  the  populace. 

2.  There  was  also  a  current  conviction  that  in  the  past 
God  had  not  permitted  certain  righteous  Israehtes  whom  he 
especially  favored  to  take  up  permanent  residence  in  Sheol, 
but  had  miraculously  transported  them  to  heaven  (e.g., 
Moses,  Enoch,  Elijah). 

3.  In  the  case  of  the  disciples  there  was  also  the  memory  of 
Jesus'  attractive  personahty  which  had  led  them  while  with 
him  to  believe  that  he  stood  in  especial  favor  with  God  and 
so  was  worthy  to  be  the  Jews'  national  deliverer  from  Roman 
oppression. 


2  74        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

4.  Furthermore,  the  apocalyptic  messianic  imagery  was 
ready  at  hand  the  moment  the  disciples  began  to  reflect  upon 
the  possible  status  of  their  beloved  master  in  the  world  beyond 
the  grave. 

5.  It  is  less  certain  that  any  specific  words  of  Jesus  pre- 
dicting his  resurrection  and  exaltation  constituted  for  the 
disciples  a  real  factor  in  the  situation.  Even  if  he  did  try  to 
prepare  them  for  this  belief — as  they  later  thought  he  must 
have  done — they  candidly  admitted  that  his  attempts  proved 
utterly  futile.  Their  hearts  were  hardened  and  their  eyes 
were  holden — until  after  the  events  had  happened. 

6.  The  gospel  accounts  which  emphasize  the  reality  of 
Jesus'  risen  body  reflect  a  later  discussion  in  the  history  of 
Christology  when  the  reality  of  Jesus'  physical  body  even 
prior  to  his  crucifixion  was  being  called  in  question  (Docetism). 
Similarly,  the  story  of  the  guard  at  the  tomb  (Matt.  27 :  27-66; 
28 : 1 1-15)  answers  the  needs  of  later  apologetic.  The  original 
disciples  are  hardly  likely  to  have  demanded  any  such  props 
for  faith.  They  would  be  quite  convinced  merely  on  the 
strength  of  the  appearances,  and  would  naturally  conclude 
that,  as  in  the  case  of  Enoch  and  Ehjah,  Jesus'  body  had  been 
miraculously  transformed  into  its  heavenly  counterpart. 

7.  Marvelous  awakenings  from  the  dead,  especially  in  the 
case  of  heroes  and  divinities  worshiped  in  many  contemporary 
pagan  cults,  were  familiar  items  in  the  thinking  of  that  ancient 
world  and  may  have  constituted  an  important  factor  in  deter- 
mining the  early  Christians'  use  of  similar  credentials  for 
Jesus — even  if  these  current  ideas  may  not  have  really  been 
one  of  the  genetic  forces  in  bringing  about  the  disciples'  own 
faith. 

The  beginnings  of  a  new  community. — Very  soon  after 
certain  friends  of  Jesus  became  convinced  of  his  rise  from 
Sheol  and  ascent  into  heaven,  groups  began  to  assemble  in 
certain  places,  and  individuals  preached  this  new  belief  prob- 
ably in  the  synagogues  at  the  time  of  pubHc  worship.     Exact 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  275 

information  regarding  all  the  events  of  these  earliest  days  is 
no  longer  attainable.  In  fact,  there  is  uncertainty  as  to  where 
the  first  visions  of  Jesus  were  experienced.  According  to  one 
tradition  the  disciples  saw  him  first  in  Galilee  (Matt.  28:10, 
16-20;  cf.  Mark  16:7);  another  tradition  locates  all  the 
appearances  in  or  near  Jerusalem  (Luke  24:13-31,  34,  36-51; 
Acts  1 : 1-9 ;  while  the  Gospel  of  John  combines  the  two  tra- 
ditions, giving  first  place  to  Jerusalem  (21:19-23,  26-29; 
2i:4ff.). 

After  Christianity  had  become  a  formally  organized  move- 
ment standing  over  against  Judaism,  there  was  a  strong 
tendency  among  Christian  interpreters  to  ignore  the  obscure 
beginnings  in  Gahlee  or  elsewhere  throughout  the  country  and 
to  emphasize  the  importance  of  the  new  assembly  which 
ultimately  came  together  at  Jerusalem.  This  is  the  situation 
in  Acts,  whose  author  apparently  knows  nothing  and  cares 
nothing  about  earlier  and  smaller  assemblies.  The  apologetic 
interest  is  especially  noticeable  in  the  account  of  the  first 
Christian  Pentecost.  Since  this  was  the  festival  at  which  the 
giving  of  the  Jewish  Law,  and  thus  the  birth  of  the  nation, 
were  celebrated,  it  was  appropriately  made  the  natal  day  of 
the  new  rival  religion.  Likely  enough  former  friends  of 
Jesus  came  up  to  the  feast  from  various  parts  of  the  country, 
and  those  who  had  attained  the  new  messianic  faith  would 
spread  the  news  of  Jesus'  appearances.  Hence  it  may  well  be 
that  this  first  Pentecost  marked  a  distinct  stage  in  the  growth 
of  the  movement,  but  the  historian  must  take  account  of 
earlier  stages  in  the  development,  recognizing  the  pragmatic 
necessities  under  which  the  later  interpreters  labored. 

The  break  with  Judaism. — The  early  Christian  preachers, 
whenever  the  opportunity  offered,  tried  to  convince  their 
Jewish  kinsmen  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  near  at  hand  and 
that  Jesus  had  been  elevated  to  messianic  dignity  in  heaven 
whence  he  would  soon  return  to  set  up  the  apocalyptic  king- 
dom upon  earth.     All  Jews  were  urged  to  accept  this  teaching 


276        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

and  thus  guarantee  for  themselves  a  place  in  the  new  kingdom. 
A  few  of  them  accepted,  but  the  vast  majority  did  not. 

Again,  the  early  Christians  were  enthusiasts.  Jesus  was 
now  in  the  messianic  office  in  heaven,  his  return  was  near,  and 
the  disciples  felt  themselves  moved  by  the  power  of  the  divine 
Spirit  which  had  always  been  so  important  a  factor  in  the  his- 
tory of  Israel,  especially  at  times  of  great  crises  in  the  life  of  a 
prophet  or  leader.  Now  they  were  new  prophets  of  the  final 
age  and  so  believed  themselves  moved  on  occasion  by  the 
power  of  the  Spirit.  The  very  foundation  of  their  new  faith 
was  an  ecstatic  vision  of  the  heavenly  Jesus,  and  they  doubt- 
less frequently  experienced  exceptional  outbursts  of  new 
enthusiasm.  They  even  ventured  to  use  the  powerful  name 
of  the  heaven-exalted  Jesus  in  working  miraculous  cures, 
notwithstanding  the  Deuteronomic  prohibition  against  all 
forms  of  magical  practice  (Deut.  18:9-14). 

At  an  early  date  the  new  faith  was  adopted  by  Hellenists, 
that  is,  by  Greek-speaking  Jews  of  the  Diaspora  who  had 
returned  to  Jerusalem  to  reside  either  temporarily  or  perma- 
nently. Among  these  converts,  whose  wider  experience 
tended  to  liberalize  their  views  on  some  matters,  the  Christian 
cause  found  new  champions.  Acts  alludes  very  briefly  to  this 
Hellenistic  community  in  Jerusalem  (chaps.  6  f.),  but  appar- 
ently it  was  this  leadership  that  especially  incensed  Saul 
(Paul)  and  called  forth  his  activity  as  a  persecutor. 

This  whole  course  of  development  tended  to  differentiate 
believers  in  Jesus'  messiahship  from  other  Jews,  and  the  Chris- 
tian community  must  soon  have  become  a  distinct  group, 
although  its  members  still  regarded  themselves  as  thoroughly 
good  Jews. 

Growth  of  missionary  enterprise. — The  rise  of  interest  in 
missions  is  one  of  the  most  puzzling  problems  in  the  history  of 
early  Christianity.  The  earliest  Christian  preachers  talking 
in  a  Jewish  synagogue  at  the  regular  Sabbath  service  were 
propagandists  from  the  start,  but  their  confidence  in  the  immi- 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  277 

nence  of  the  judgment  day  prevented  them  from  planning 
any  extended  missionary  enterprise  even  to  the  Jewish  people 
scattered  over  the  Graeco-Roman  world.  Much  less  would 
they  contemplate  a  mission  to  the  Gentiles.  But  the  Lord 
delayed  his  coming  and  the  Jews  of  Palestine  in  the  main 
rejected  the  new  reformers'  teaching.  The  pressure  of  this 
situation  must  soon  have  produced  the  notion  of  a  mission 
to  Jews  of  the  Diaspora.  This  process  of  expansion  had 
doubtless  begun  before  Paul  appeared  upon  the  scene,  and 
probably  it  went  on  in  many  quarters  of  the  Graeco-Roman 
world  contemporaneously  with  Paul's  missionary  labors.  It 
would  be  a  grave  mistake  to  suppose  that  he  and  his 
associates  were  the  only  persons  doing  missionary  work 
outside  Palestine. 

But  who  first  conceived  the  idea  of  assembling  believers 
from  among  the  Gentiles  without  first  requiring  them  to 
become  proselytes  to  Judaism  ?  In  the  present  status  of  our 
information  the  question  can  hardly  be  answered  with  cer- 
tainty. The  practice  of  receiving  gentile  converts  was  in 
vogue  with  Barnabas  and  Paul  upon  their  so-called  first 
missionary  journey  to  Asia  Minor,  and  presumably  it  was 
already  a  custom  among  Christians  of  Antioch  who  were 
responsible  for  the  mission  of  Barnabas  and  Paul.  The 
custom  evidently  was  of  spontaneous  origin,  and  when  later  it 
was  made  a  matter  of  discussion  it  was  approved  even  by  the 
Jerusalem  church. 

A  more  difficult  but  closely  related  question  pertained  to 
table-fellowship  between  gentile  and  Jewish  converts.  Prob- 
ably at  first  no  questions  were  raised  as  to  the  propriety  of 
such  fellowship  among  individuals  of  whatever  nationality  who 
had  believed  in  a  common  Lord  and  received  the  cleansing 
rite  of  baptism  in  his  name.  But  when  the  question  came  up 
for  theoretical  consideration,  the  Jerusalem  Christians  were 
unwilling  to  have  Jewish  converts  violate  the  laws  of  cere- 
monial purity  by  sitting  down  to  table  with  Gentiles.     It  was 


278        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

conceded  that  Gentiles  might  constitute  Christian  communi- 
ties by  themselves,  but  there  must  be  no  mixed  communities. 
This  was  the  ruling  against  which  Paul  protested  so  vigorously 
in  the  second  chapter  of  Galatians.  In  the  light  of  these 
events,  Peter  can  scarcely  have  decided  to  abandon  the  law  of 
clean  and  unclean  meats  at  so  early  a  date  as  Acts,  chaps.  10  f., 
would  imply.  But  after  further  reflection  upon  his  experience 
at  Antioch  (Gal.  2:11  f.)  he  may  have  taken  this  step,  nor 
would  this  be  the  first  time  that  the  author  of  Luke-Acts 
had  misplaced  an  incident.  Peter  continued  his  missionary 
activities  outside  Palestine,  and  it  would  not  be  strange  if  he 
also  worked  among  non-Jews. 

Although  early  missionaries  went  out  from  Palestine,  the 
native  church  still  remained  very  conservative  in  its  attitude 
toward  the  gentile  propaganda.  Many  Palestinians  depre- 
cated it  entirely  and  opposed  the  work  of  Paul.  Leaders  like 
James,  however,  approved  the  enterprise,  but  were  offended 
at  the  thought  of  free  intercourse  between  Jewish  and  gentile 
Christians  in  the  same  community.  These  are  some  of  the 
more  important  items  which  require  study  in  reconstructing 
this  part  of  the  history  of  early  Christianity. 

Life  in  the  Palestinian  communities. — Relatively  little  is 
known  of  actual  conditions  within  the  Palestinian  churches. 
We  may  infer  that  many  of  the  members  were  in  straightened 
circumstances,  else  Paul  would  not  have  been  so  diligent  in 
gathering  his  collection  for  their  benefit.  They  undoubtedly 
cultivated  the  Jewish  type  of  religious  life,  attending  regularly 
upon  the  services  of  the  synagogue  and  the  temple.  They 
also  met  together  to  eat  and  pray,  thereby  cultivating  their 
own  special  interests,  and  among  their  number  were  certain 
persons  who  naturally  assumed  a  position  of  leadership.  The 
"Twelve"  and  relatives  of  Jesus  were  naturally  given  first 
place.  But  in  this  whole  region  where  exact  information  is 
so  scanty  the  historian  must  be  particularly  careful  to  test 
statements  from  a  later  date  when  the  notion  of  formal 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  279 

organization  had  come  to  be  a  matter  of  primal  importance,  as 
was  the  case  with  the  author  of  Acts. 

Later  history  of  Palestinian  Christianity. — At  a  com- 
paratively early  date  the  original  leaders  of  the  Christian 
movement  began  to  scatter.  Barnabas,  who  had  once  been 
prominent  in  Jerusalem,  removed  to  Antioch  where  he  and 
Paul  worked  together.  James  the  son  of  Zebedee  was  put  to 
death  in  44  a.d.,  and  Peter  barely  escaped  a  similar  fate. 
Henceforth  Peter  resided  elsewhere  and  James  the  brother  of 
Jesus  became  leader  of  the  Jerusalem  church.  Except  for  the 
account  of  the  Jerusalem  council,  and  the  story  of  Paul's 
experiences  on  the  occasion  of  his  final  visit  to  the  city,  the 
career  of  the  Palestinian  Christians  is  scarcely  mentioned  in 
any  extant  literature  from  the  first  century.  Josephus  refers 
to  the  death  of  James  in  62  a.d.,  and  Eusebius  gathered  up  a 
few  scattered  notices  regarding  relatives  of  Jesus  who  con- 
tinued to  reside  in  Palestine.  These  fragmentary  items  of 
information  are  indicative  of  the  relatively  minor  position 
which  Palestinian  Jewish  Christians  later  occupied  in  the 
main  stream  of  the  new  religion's  development. 

Literature. — See  appropriate  sections  in  A.  C.  McGiffert,  A  History 
of  Christianity  in  the  Apostolic  Age,  2A.  td.  (New  York:  Scribner,  1899); 
C.  Weizsacker,  Das  apostolische  Zeitalter  der  christlichen  Kir  die,  3.  Aufl. 
(Tubingen:   Mohr,  1901;   English  translation.  The  Apostolic  Age  of  the 
Christian  Church,  2  vols.,  2d  ed.  [New  York:   Putnam,  1899]);   E.  von 
Dobschiitz,   Die   urchristlichen   Gemeinden    (Leipzig:     Hinrichs,    1902 
English  translation,  Christian  Life  in  the  Primitive  Church  [New  York 
Putnam,  1904]);  V.  Bartlet,  The  Apostolic  Age  (New  York:  Scribner,  1899) 
J.  H.  Ropes,  The  Apostolic  Age  in  the  Light  of  Higher  Criticism  (New 
York:  Scribner,  1906);  .E.  F.  Scott,  The  Beginnings  of  the  Church  (New 
York:  Scribner,  191 5).     See  also  brief  sections  in  the  books  of  P.  Wernle, 
H.  J.  Holtzmann,  and  H.  Weinel,  cited  above,  p.  270,  and  "General 
References,"  below,  p.  324.     Special   works  of  minor  importance  are 

F.  J.  A.  Hort,  Judaistic  Christianity   (New  York:    Macmillan,   1898); 

G.  Hoennicke,  Das  J udenchristentum  im  ersten  und  zweiten  Jahrhundert 
(Berlin:  Towitzsch,  1908);  A.  Schmidtke,  Neue  Fragmente  und  Unter- 
suchungen  zu  den  judenchristlichen  Evangelien:  Ein  Beitrag  zur  Literatur 
und  Geschichte  der  Judenchristen  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  191 1). 


28o        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

VI.      GENTILE    CHRISTIANITY   IN   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE 

Characteristics  of  the  period. — From  earliest  times  to 
about  70  A.D.  the  new  religion  in  gentile  lands  was  hardly- 
distinguished  from  Judaism  by  outsiders.  Its  chief  advocates, 
such  as  Paul,  Barnabas,  Apollos,  Peter,  Silas,  John  Mark,  were 
all  Jews  by  birth  and  training.  Moreover,  the  Christian 
preachers  used  the  Jewish  Scripture  as  their  own  sacred 
literature,  they  did  their  work  when  possible  in  connection  with 
the  Jewish  synagogues,  and  they  presented  the  new  movement 
as  a  continuation  of  ancient  Hebrew  religion. 

On  the  other  hand,  between  Jews  and  Christians  them- 
selves bitter  enmity  had  developed.  Not  only  were  the 
Christian  missionaries  unacceptable  to  the  majority  of  the 
Jews,  but  the  Christian  movement  had  by  this  time  evolved 
an  independent  organization  which  drew  away  from  the 
synagogue  the  support  of  all  individuals  who  accepted  Chris- 
tianity. Hostility  was  further  aggravated  by  the  inroads 
which  Christianity  made  among  the  circle  of  "God-fearers." 
These  were  Gentiles  who  attended  the  synagogue  services, 
-admiring  the  ethical  and  spiritual  heritage  of  Judaism,  but 
who  were  backward  about  identifying  themselves  completely 
with  the  Jewish  race.  To  them  Christianity  must  have 
made  an  especially  strong  appeal  since  it  offered  a  means  of 
inheriting  the  spiritual  values  of  Judaism  without  accepting 
circumcision  as  a  condition  of  participation  in  the  full  blessings 
of  salvation.  Still  another  cause  of  discord  in  those  circles 
where  liberal  preachers  of  Paul's  type  labored  was  violation 
of  the  rules  of  ceremonial  purity  by  Christian  Jews  who  freely 
associated  with  gentile  converts  in  the  same  community. 

The  gentile  churches  contained  converts  from  many  faiths. 
The  Jewish  element  predominated  in  some  communities,  while 
in  other  places  Gentiles  were  greatly  in  the  majority.  The 
latter  had  been  reared  in  one  or  more  of  the  contemporary 
pagan  religions  in  which  that  ancient  world  abounded;  conse- 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  281 

quently  a  Christian  community  was  likely  to  be  varied  in  its 
tastes,  interests,  and  heritages.  But  as  yet  it  was  not  fully 
conscious  of  its  own  real  permanence  as  an  institution  in  the 
world.  Even  gentile  converts  accepted  the  notion  that  the 
world  was  to  come  to  an  end  soon  and  in  the  manner  described 
by  adherents  to  Jewish  eschatological  views. 

Such  are  the  general  conditions  to  be  kept  in  mind  when 
sketching  the  history  of  Christianity  in  gentile  lands  down  to, 
say,  70  A.D.  The  new  movement  is  practically  ignored  by  the 
Graeco-Roman  world  at  large;  it  is  confined  chiefly  to  the 
lower  strata  of  society  where  it  encounters  severe  opposition 
from  the  Jews;  it  draws  its  membership  from  the  various 
contemporary  faiths;  it  has  almost  no  real  consciousness  of 
its  own  permanence  as  an  institution,  and  it  is  still  guided 
in  the  main  by  leaders  of  the  first  generation  who,  roughly 
speaking,  are  ''apostles"  or  friends  of  apostles. 

Sources  of  information. — Paul's  epistles  are  the  chief 
direct  sources  of  inforrtiation  for  the  period.  But  they  are 
merely  occasional  documents  written  at  different  times  be- 
tween the  years  50  and  65  a.d.,  and  are  not  at  all  designed 
to  furnish  a  comprehensive  history  of  Christianity  during  its 
early  spread  to  gentile  lands.  Moreover,  in  dealing  with 
this  period  the  author  of  Acts  has  been  interested  almost 
exclusively  in  the  activities  of  Paul.  In  consequence  of  thisr 
one-sidedness  of  the  sources  a  study  of  Christianity  during 
this  period  becomes  almost  exclusively  a  history  of  the 
work  of  Paul.  But  we  must  not  suppose  that  he  and  his 
immediate  associates  were  the  only  gentile  missionaries 
carrying  on  work  during  these  years.  For  example,  there  was 
an  important  church  at  Rome  to  which  he  wrote  one  of 
his  longest  letters  but  with  whose  establishment  he  had  had 
nothing  to  <^o.  Furthermore,  Barnabas,  Peter,  Apollos,  and 
John  Mark,  as  well  as  many  other  unknown  persons,  were  at 
the  same  time  carrying  on  missionary  activities,  and  a  portion 
at  least  of  their  labors  fell  in  gentile  territory. 


282        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  conversion  of  Paul. — Paul's  conversion  seemed  to  the 
author  of  Acts  to  mark  a  distinct  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
new  religion,  and  its  epochal  significance  for  Paul's  own  life 
is  attested  in  his  letters  (Gal.  1:15  f.;  I  Cor.  15:8;  9:1; 
II  Cor.  4:6).  He  says  that  the  event  marked  the  halting  of 
his  vigorous  activity  as  a  persecutor  and  the  revelation  to  him 
of  the  heavenly  Christ. 

The  exact  content  of  Paul's  experience  at  this  time  has 
been  much  debated.  From  the  historian's  standpoint  the 
primary  problem  is  to  ascertain  Paul's  own  view  of  the 
matter  and  the  factors  in  his  environment  which  helped 
him  toward  the  attainment  of  this  particular  experience. 
Following  are  the  chief  considerations  involved  in  this 
•  study: 

1.  Belief  in  the  reality  of  apparitions  was  a  common 
possession  in  Paul's  world. 

2.  Christian  preaching  regarding  Jesus'  elevation  to  a 
position  of  angelic  dignity  in  heaven;  and  his  appearance  to 
certain  of  his  followers,  had  been  brought  forcibly  to  Paul's 
attention  when  persecuting  the  Christians. 

3.  Paul's  own  sensitive  temperament  is  evidenced  in  the 
vigor  of  his  persecution  as  well  as  in  his  liability  to  ecstatic 
experience  after  becoming  a  Christian. 

4.  His  life  in  the  Diaspora  must  also  have  brought  him  into 
contact  with  a  widely  popular  type  of  thinking  in  which  mys- 
tical experience  was  regarded  as  the  summum  honiim  in  religion. 
Even  Jews  were  influenced  by  this  notion,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  it  ran  counter  to  the  spirit  of  legalism.  In  the  case 
of  Philo,  for  example,  satisfaction  for  the  mystical  impulse  was 
found  in  the  emotional  discovery  of  hidden  meanings  in  the 
law — a  result  reached  by  freely  applying  the  allegorical 
method  of  interpretation.  Paul  as  a  Jew  had  evidently 
been  seeking  mystical  satisfactions  under  the  law,  though  his 
search  may  have  been  directed  more  along  ascetic  lines  (cf. 
Rom.,  chap.  7). 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  283 

5.  There  were  also  many  contemporary  cults  which  by 
their  rites  and  teachings  provided  concrete  means  for  realizing 
mystical  religious  satisfaction  through  belief  in  a  dying  and 
rising  hero  divinity  hailed  as  Lord  of  the  community.  The 
worship  of  "Lord"  Serapis,  "Lord"  Osiris,  "Lady"  Isis,  and 
several  other  similar  divinities,  had  been  flourishing  in  the 
eastern  Mediterranean  lands  a  century  and  more  before  Paul's 
conversion  (see  above,  p.  247).  These  cults  supplied  to  the 
populace  the  mystical  satisfactions  which  the  more  educated 
classes  sought  in  the  realm  of  philosophical  meditation. 
The  way  in  which  familiarity  with  these  cults  may  have 
helped  to  prepare  Paul  for  the  acceptance  of  Christianity  is 
suggested  in  his  statement  that  salvation  is  to  be  obtained  by 
following  the  simple  recipe:  "If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy 
mouth  Jesus  as  Lord,  and  shalt  believe  in  thy  heart  that  God 
raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved"  (Rom.  10:9). 
The  notion  of  a  "Lord"  in  whose  resurrection  believers 
exercised  faith  was  doubtless  well  known  to  Paul  from  contact 
with  the  Hellenistic  world,  but  the  pagan  cults  were  too  far 
removed  from  Judaism  to  permit  Paul  as  a  Jew  to  make  any 
practical  use  of  their  imagery  in  his  personal  religious  life.  In 
Christianity  he  first  found  it  possible  to  bridge  the  chasm  sepa- 
rating Jewish  legalism  and  Hellenistic  mysticism. 

6.  Doubtless  Paul  was  also  familiar  with  the  apocalyptic 
beliefs  of  contemporary  Judaism;  hence  the  idea  of  the 
heavenly  Christ  as  preached  by  the  Christians  would  all  the 
more  readily  find  lodgment  in  Paul's  mind. 

These  are  some  of  the  factors  which  were  peculiar  to  Paul's 
environment  prior  to  his  conversion  and  constituted  the 
setting  for  his  experience.  Modern  psychological  analysis 
of  religion  had  no  place  in  Paul's  world;  hence  the  question 
so  often  raised  today  as  to  the  ultimate  ground  of  the  experi- 
ence was  never  asked  by  him.  He  was  convinced  that  he 
had  witnessed  an  actual  vision  of  the  living  Lord,  and  in 
this  he  was  but  repeating  the  conviction  not  only  of  other 


284        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Christians  who  had  seen  visions  of  Jesus,  but  also  of  devotees 
of  the  mystery-rehgions  in  which  the  initiate  sometimes 
believed  himself  favored  by  a  vision  of  the  god.  Paul  can 
be  understood  historically  only  as  we  accustom  ourselves  to 
the  ways  of  thinking  peculiar  to  Paul's  own  world. 

Paul's  career  as  a  missionary. — In  so  far  as  the  Christian 
career  of  Paul  is  recoverable  at  all,  it  may  easily  be  recon- 
structed from  his  letters  and  from  Acts.  The  special  occasion 
and  purpose  of  each  of  his  epistles  will  also  appear  as  the 
student  follows  the  course  of  Paul's  activity.  Still  there  will 
remain  several  questions  not  easy  to  answer.  The  extent 
and  character  of  his  work  for  a  dozen  years  previous  to  his 
first  missionary  tour  described  in  Acts,  chaps.  13  f.,  are  very 
obscure.  There  is  also  a  question  whether  the  council  in 
Jerusalem  reported  in  Acts,  chap.  15,  is  identical  with  that 
mentioned  in  Gal.  2:1-10.  In  view  of  Gal.  2:iif.  it  is  also 
doubtful  whether  Paul  would  have  accepted  the  "decrees," 
passing  them  on  to  the  churches  so  obediently  as  Acts  repre- 
sents (15:22-29;  16:4).  Again,  it  is  not  known  positively 
whether  Paul  addressed  his  Galatian  letter  to  Christians  in 
Southern  Galatia  (Antioch  in  Pisidia,  Iconium,  Lystra,  and 
Derbe)  or  to  churches  in  the  north  of  the  province  (e.g.,  at 
Ancyra  or  Pessinus).  Finally,  was  Paul  released  at  the  end  of 
the  two  years  of  Roman  imprisonment  mentioned  in  Acts  ?  If 
so,  did  he  ever  carry  out  his  intention  of  going  to  Spain  (Rom. 
15:24,  28),  and  what  were  the  circumstances  which  brought 
about  his  death  ?  These  are  some  of  the  problems  still  open  to 
discussion  in  a  study  of  the  life  of  Paul;  nevertheless  his  place 
in  the  history  of  early  Christianity  is  better  known  than  that 
of  any  of  his  contemporaries. 

Missionary  methods  of  Paul. — The  methods  employed  by 
him  in  his  missionary  work  are  particularly  interesting.  When 
he  and  Barnabas  went  on  their  first  tour,  the  church  at  Antioch 
in  Syria  may  have  financed  the  enterprise  (Acts  13 : 2  f .) ;  but 
later  Paul  worked  strictly  on  his  own  account,  and  so  his 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  285 

activity  was  restricted  mainly  to  industrial  and  commercial 
centers  where  he  and  his  companions  could  more  easily  earn 
their  livelihood  as  they  preached.  When  troubles  arose  in 
distant  communities  which  had  been  established  by  himself, 
or  by  some  other  Christian  in  his  travels,  Paul  would  write  a 
letter  of  instruction  and  exhortation,  sending  it  by  some 
friend  who  might  be  passing  that  way.  In  cases  of  serious 
trouble  he  endeavored  to  make  a  personal  visit  to  the  church, 
but  this  was  not  always  possible,  and  letter-writing  was  used 
as  a  substitute. 

The  manner  of  propaganda  was  simple.  When  possible, 
Paul  embraced  the  opportunity  which  the  Jewish  synagogue 
service  offered  for  preaching,  following  the  reading  of  the 
Scripture.  But  this  privilege  usually  was  short-lived,  since 
Paul's  message  proved  unacceptable  to  the  Jewish  authorities. 
Probably  much  effective  missionary  work  was  done  through 
personal  conversation  with  men  and  women  engaged  in  the 
same  activities  in  the  ordinary  walks  of  life.  Street  preach- 
ing was  another  means  which  was  doubtless  frequently 
employed.  One  of  the  most  characteristic  phenomena  of 
that  age  was  the  traveling  moral  philosopher,  the  Cynic- 
Stoic  preacher,  who  went  about  exhorting  men  to  live  the 
nobler  life  which  these  practical  philosophers  held  up  as  the 
ideal.  The  form  of  their  discourse,  known  as  the  diatribe,  is 
reproduced  in  many  portions  of  Paul's  letters.  As  he  dic- 
tated these  letters  to  an  amanuensis  he  easily  fell  into  the 
style  which  he,  like  his  fellow  Stoic  preachers,  employed  in 
public  discourse.  The  sophist  was  also  a  familiar  figure  in 
that. world.  He  was  more  of  a  public  entertainer  than  the 
Cynic-Stoic  preacher,  and  followed  the  profession  for  its 
lucrative  possibihties.  He  often  had  a  building  or  hall  where 
he  instructed  pupils  in  the  art  of  oratory  and  where  he  gave 
pubhc  exhibitions  of  his  own  oratorical  skill.  Paul  speaks 
rather  disparagingly  of  the  sophist's  art  (I  Cor.  1:20),  but  it 
was  probably  from  one  of  these  pedagogues  in  Ephesus  that 


286        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Paul  rented  a  room  for  a  certain  time  each  day  when  he 
publicly  expounded  the  new  religion  in  a  manner  not  wholly 
different  from  the  method  used  by  the  sophist  for  propagating 
his  interests  (Acts  19:9). 

Life  in  the  Pauline  communities. — How  are  we  to  think  of 
the  new  assemblies  so  often  referred  to  as  ''churches"?  It 
must  not  be  supposed  that  Christians  at  this  time  owned 
buildings  or  that  they  supported  elaborate  organizations. 
They  assembled  at  the  home  of  some  member  of  the  group  or 
at  some  hall  temporarily  procured  for  the  purpose  when 
they  were  able  to  pay  the  rental.  The  time  of  meeting  was 
either  early  in  the  morning  before  going  to  work  or  at  night 
after  the  labors  of  the  day  were  over.  A  special  service  was 
held  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  (Sunday),  but  as  yet  there 
was  no  such  thing  as  a  Sunday  holiday.  There  were  two  kinds 
of  meeting,  one  private  and  the  other  pubUc.  The  religious 
meal  was  eaten  at  the  former,  while  Scripture  reading,  singing, 
and  preaching  took  place  in  the  latter  (cf.  I  Cor.  14:26-33). 
New  members  were  admitted  into  full  fellowship  in  the  com- 
munity through  the  rite  of  baptism. 

There  were  no  stated  officials,  but  certain  individuals 
stood  out  more  prominently  than  others  because  of  their 
ability  to  discharge  particular  functions.  At  first  these 
activities  were  wholly  spontaneous  and  were  credited  to  the 
guidance  of  the  Spirit.  Prophesying,  teaching,  working 
miracles,  healing  the  sick,  helping  the  needy,  giving  counsel, 
speaking  with  tongues,  and  interpretation  of  tongues  were 
all  effected  through  the  agency  of  the  Spirit  (I  Cor.  1 2 :  28-30) . 
Nevertheless  conditions  within  this  new  society  were  not 
always  ideal.  Its  membership  was  varied,  some  being  slaves 
while  others  were  fairly  prosperous  individuals.  Different 
tastes  and  opinions  were  represented,  and  occasionally  there 
were  factions  and  even  cases  of  moral  laxity  (e.g.,  I  Cor., 
chaps.  1-6).  Sometimes  families  were  divided,  one  member 
having  adopted  Christianity  while  the  others  remained  ad- 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  287 

herents  of  some  pagan  cult.  And  to  add  to  the  difficulty, 
some  of  the  communities  were  visited  by  Judaizers  who 
asserted  that  the  Gentiles  could  not  be  saved  unless  they 
accepted  circumcision. 

The  Christianity  of  Paul. — What,  in  its  main  outlines, 
was  the  type  of  Christianity  represented  by  Paul  ? 

1.  He  strongly  advocated  a  mystical,  as  opposed  to  a 
legalistic,  interpretation  of  religion.  But  he  was  a  practical 
rather  than  a  philosophical  mystic,  that  is,  he  attained  to 
union  with  Deity,  not  by  means  of  meditation  and  intellectual 
emotion,  but  through  the  medium  of  worship.  To  be  "in 
Christ,"  or  to  be  "spiritual" — to  use  his  characteristic  modes 
of  expression — was  a  state  which  could  be  attained  only  in 
connection  with  the  new  worshiping  community.  Hence  the 
great  significance  of  its  unique  rites  such  as  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper. 

2.  The  Christianity  of  Paul  is  also  dominated  by  a  vivid 
eschatological  hope  phrased  in  the  apocalyptic  imagery  of 
Jewish  messianism.  If  Paul's  mysticism  shows  a  distinct 
Hellenistic  coloring,  his  eschatology  is  emphatically  Jewish  in 
type.  The  heavenly  Christ  with  whom  he  enjoyed  a  perma- 
nent mystical  union,  as  realistic  as  that  of  the  devotee  in  any 
of  the  mystery-cults,  was  the  Jewish  Messiah  soon  to  come 
on  the  clouds  in  glory,  and  one  of  the  chief  incentives  for 
missionary  .enterprise  was  the  thought  of  this  impending 
event. 

3.  The  ethical  note  in  Paul's  exposition  of  Christianity  is 
also  very  prominent.  He  not  only  conserved  those  fine 
ethical  heritages  which  came  to  him  from  Judaism  and  from 
the  teaching  of  Jesus,  but  occasionally  he  also  availed  himself 
of  Stoic  ideals  widely  current  in  his  day. 

Thus  Paul  so  appreciated  the  needs  of  his  environment, 
and  was  himself  so  thoroughly  an  integral  part  of  his  world, 
that  he  was  able  to  deliver  a  religious  message  which  made 
a  strong  appeal  to  the  men  of  his  time.     He  himself  had 


288        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

encompassed  so  wide  a  range  of  experience  that  he  was  espe- 
cially suited  to  the  task  of  ministering  to  the  needs  of  that 
syncretistic  age.  He  did  not,  to  be  sure,  reach  the  higher 
philosophical  circles  of  the  time,  but  this  failure  was  in  a 
measure  fortunate.  The  mission  of  Christianity  still  lay 
for  some  years  with  the  masses,  and  in  fact,  as  we  shall  later 
observe,  it  ultimately  triumphed  as  an  organized  cult  rather 
than  as  a  philosophy  of  religion. 

Literature. — For  the  general  period  see  the  works  of  McGiffert, 
Weizsacker,  von  Dobschiitz,  Bartlet,  Ropes,  Wernle,  Holtzmann,  and 
Weinel,  cited  above,  p.  279;   see  also  "General  References"  on  p.  324. 

Representative  books  on  Paul  are  K.  Lake,  The  Earlier  Epistles  of 
St.  Paul:  Their  Motive  and  Origin  (London:  Rivingtons,  191 1);  H. 
Weinel,  Paulus  der  Mensch  und  sein  Werk  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1904;  Eng- 
lish translation,  St.  Paul  the  Man  and  His  Work  [New  York:  Putnam, 
1906]);  C.  Clemen,  Paulus  sein  Lehen  und  Wirken,  2  Bde.  (Giessen: 
Topelmann,  1904);  A.  Deissmann,  Paulus:  Eine  kultur-  und  religions- 
geschichlichte  Skizze  (Tubingen :  iVIohr,  191 1 ;  English  translation,  St.  Paul, 
a  Study  in  Social  and  Religious  History  [New  York:  Hodder  &  Stoughton, 
1912]);  P.  Gardner,  The  Religious  Experience  of  St.  Paul  (New  York: 
Putnam,  191 1);  W.  Wrede,  Paulus  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1904;  English 
translation,  Paul  [Boston:  American  Unitarian  Association,  1908]); 
A.  Schweitzer,  Geschichte  der  paulinischen  Forsckung  von  der  Reformation 
bis  auf  die  Gegenwart  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  191 1 ;  English  translation,  Paul 
and  His  Interpreters:  A  Critical  History  [London:   Black,  191 2]). 

Some  important  special  discussions  are  H.  Gunkel,  Die  Wirkungen  des 
heiligen  Geistes  nach  der  popular  en  Anschauung  der  apostolischen  Zeit  und 
der  Lehre  des  Apostels  Paulus,  3.  Aufl.  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und 
Ruprecht,  1909);  M.  Dibelius,  Die  Geisterwelt  im  Glauhen  des  Paulus 
(Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1909);  H.  A.  A.  Kennedy, 
St.  Paul  and  the  Mystery-Religions  (New  York:  Hodder  &  Stoughton, 
1913);  J.  Weiss,  Beitrdge  zur  paulinischen  Rhetorik  (Gottingen:  Vanden- 
hoeck und  Ruprecht,  1897);  R.  Bultmann,  Der  Stil  der  paulinischen 
Predigt  und  die  kynisch-stoische  Diatribe  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und 
Ruprecht,  1910) ;  H.  Bohlig,  Die  Geisteskultur  von  Tarsos  im  augusteischen 
Zeitalter  mit  Beriicksichtigung  der  paulinischen  Schriften  (Gottingen: 
Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1913);  K.  Benz,  Die  Ethik  des  Apos- 
tels Paulus  (Freiburg:  Mohr,  1912);  A.  Jiilicher,  Paulus  und  Jesus 
(Tiibingen:  Mohr,  1907);  W.  HeitmiiUer,  Taufe  ufui  Abendmahl  bei 
Paulus  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1903). 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  289 

VII.      GENTILE    CHRISTIANITY   IN   POST-APOSTOLIC   TIMES 

General  characteristics. — This  period  extends  from  about 
70  to  140  A.D.  As  compared  with  the  previous  period  in  the 
history  of  gentile  Christianity,  it  shows  several  distinctive 
characteristics.  By  the  year  70  the  original  apostolic  leaders 
had  quite  generally  given  place  to  men  of  the  second  genera- 
tion, and  indifference  on  the  part  of  the  Roman  authorities  had 
changed  into  a  growing  hostility  which  occasionally  broke  out 
in  more  or  less  vigorous  persecutions.  Within  the  com- 
munities themselves  the  spontaneous  ecstatic  life  of  former 
days  was  less  in  evidence,  and  a  more  formal  leadership  and 
organization  came  to  be  the  rule.  But  still  believers  con- 
tinued to  look  longingly  toward  a  future  world-catastrophe 
for  .the  full  realization  of  Christianity's  mission.  While 
Jewish  apocalyptic  expectations  were  not  always  pictured 
so  vividly  as  they  were  in  Paul's  thinking,  still  the  advocates  of 
the  new  religion  in  this  period  never  came  to  regard  their 
chief  mission  as  that  of  establishing  Christianity  in  a  present 
endurmg  world-order.  The  new  movement  was  gaining 
rapidly  in  the  strength  by  which  it  was  later  able  to  take 
possession  of  the  Graeco-Roman  world,  but  as  yet  it  was  quite 
unconscious  of  its  power  and  made  almost  no  deliberate 
attempts  either  to  defend  itself  against  persecution  or  to 
appropriate  for  itself  the  political,  economic,  religious,  and 
intellectual  forces  of  the  day. 

Sources  of  information. — For  the  first  time  in  the  history 
of  early  Christianity  the  direct  sources  of  information  now 
become  fairly  numerous.  They  are,  in  the  first  place,  several 
extant  letters  written,  as  in  the  case  of  Paul's  epistles,  to  meet 
some  immediate  demand.  Hence  they  reflect  very  clearly 
certain  local  situations.  Important  examples  of  this  class 
of  literature  are  the  epistle  of  Clement  of  Rome  to  the  Corin- 
thians, the  seven  letters  of  Ignatius  written  while  on  his  way 
to  Rome  to  be  martyred,  Polycarp's  letter  to  the  Philippians, 
and  still  other  letters  of  doubtful  authorship  but  of  similarly 


290     -  GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

valuable  content,  such  as  I  and  II  Peter,  I-III  John,  Jude, 
and  the  letters  of  Revelation  to  the  seven  churches  of  Asia. 
Other  documents  commonly  classed  as  letters  are  less  specific 
in  character  but  are  valuable  for  the  light  they  shed  on  general 
conditions.  In  some  cases  they  were  designed  as  circular 
letters,  while  in  other  instances  they  may  originally  have  been 
Christian  homilies  or  sermons.  Among  these  documents 
I  and  II  Timothy  and  Titus  were  apparently  intended  as 
handbooks  for  the  use  of  young  pastors,  while  Hebrews, 
James,  and  Barnabas  have  more  of  the  character  of  homilies. 

Another  type  of  literature  characteristic  of  this  age  is 
the  so-called  "gospel."  This  form  of  writing  was  designed  for 
the  instruction  and  edification  of  individuals  or  of  communi- 
ties, and  as  tastes  and  needs  varied  in  different  parts  of  the 
widening  mission  field  several  different  written  gospels  took 
shape.  Those  called  by  the  names  of  Mark,  Matthew,  Luke, 
and  John  have  been  preserved  in  the  New  Testament,  while 
others  once  highly  prized  in  certain  circles  are  now  known  only 
in  fragments.  Such  are  the  Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews 
and  the  Gospel  of  Peter.  The  Gospels,  as  well  as  the  Book  of 
Acts,  all  purport  to  deal  with  the  history  of  the  earlier  age, 
yet  their  point  of  view  and  method  of  treatment  often  dis- 
close something  of  the  specific  conditions  amid  which  the 
authors  themselves  lived.  In  addition  to  these  indirect 
sources,  other  writings  similarly  designed  for  purposes  of 
instruction  deal  directly  with  problems  of  post-apostolic  times. 
The  Didache  belongs  here,  and  also  II  Clement  and  Diognetus 
— if  the  two  last-named  documents  are  not  really  of  later 
date.  Lastly,  the  Apocalypse  of  John  (Revelation),  a  frag- 
ment of  the  Apocalypse  of  Peter,  and  perhaps  also  the  older 
elements  of  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas  belong  in  this  period. 

Evidences  of  growth. — The  course  of  Christianity's  spread 
during  these  years  cannot  be  traced  in  detail.  There  is  no 
ancient  document  which  reconstructs  the  career  of  a  single 
missionary  in  the  way  that  the  author  of  Acts  follows  Paul's 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  291 

activity.  Nor  did  any  Christian  leader  of  post-apostolic 
times  stand  out  so  pre-eminently  as  did  Paul  in  his  generation. 
But  significant  leaders  were  not  lacking,  as  the  names  of 
Clement,  Ignatius,  and  Polycarp  show. 

Although  comparatively  little  is  known  of  individual 
leaders,  the  student  of  the  period  will  be  struck  by  some 
notable  evidences  of  the  new  religion's  expansion.  About  the 
year  112  a.d.  Pliny  the  Younger  wrote  to  the  Emperor  Trajan 
describing  the  situation  in  the  province  of  Bithynia-Pontus 
over  which  Pliny  had  recently  been  appointed  governor.  He 
said  that  the  new  religion  had  spread  not  only  among  the 
cities,  but  even  in  the  villages  and  country  districts,  until  the 
worship  of  the  old  gods  had  been  seriously  impaired.  There 
was  no  longer  any  demand  for  sacrificial  victims  or  for  the 
fodder  which  formerly  had  been  regularly  purchased  by  their 
keepers.  This  economic  decline,  due  to  the  wide  spread  of 
Christianity,  caused  Pliny  real  alarm. 

There  is  also  evidence  of  Christianity's  increased  impor- 
tance in  territory  where  it  had  already  been  in  existence 
during  apostoHc  times.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the 
Province  of  Asia.  Ephesus  is  still  the  chief  seat  of  the  new 
religion,  but  important  Christian  communities  are  now  found 
in  various  cities  (e.g.,  Smyrna,  Pergamum,  Philadelphia, 
Sardis,  Tralles,  Hierapohs,  Laodicea,  Colossae,  Magnesia, 
Thyatira).  In  Syria  and  Palestine,  in  Macedonia,  in  Greece, 
in  Italy,  and  in  Egypt  there  are  also  signs  of  growth.  Even 
North  Africa,  Gaul,  and  Spain  were  probably  reached  by 
Christian  preachers  during  this  period. 

Relation  to  Judaism. — The  breach  between  Christians  and 
Jews  of  the  Diaspora  was  already  wide  at  the  end  of  the 
ApostoHc  Age,  and  hostility  between  the  two  religions  con- 
tinued to  increase  during  the  subsequent  years.  The  fall  of 
Jerusalem  in  70  a.d.  was  regarded  by  the  Christians  as  a 
direct  punishment  of  the  Jews  for  their  rejection  of  the  Chris- 
tian message.     Paul's  expectation  that  his  own  countrymen 


292        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

would  accept  the  Gospel  when  they  saw  the  Gentiles  coming 
into  the  kingdom  (e.g.,  Rom.  11:25  ^•)  was  abandoned,  and  a 
belief  that  the  Jewish  people  were  to  be  utterly  rejected 
appears  clearly  in  such  writings  as  Matthew,  Luke-Acts, 
and  John.  Christians  now  claimed  that  they,  as  gentile 
converts  to  the  new  faith,  were  the  true  people  of  God  with 
exclusive  rights  to  the  Old  Testament  revelation  and  all  its 
promises.  The  old  covenant  had  been  merely  anticipatory, 
hence  it  was  now  the  proper  possession  of  the  new  religion  in 
which  it  had  come  to  fulfilment.  Christians  accordingly  used 
the  ancient  Scripture  to  substantiate  their  new  teaching, 
allegorizing  or  ignoring  those  features  which  could  not  be 
appropriated  directly.  Various  interpreters  tried  their  skill 
at  this  task  and  the  varying  results  are  observable  in  docu- 
ments like  I  Clement,  Hebrews,  and  Barnabas. 

The  Jews,  as  would  be  expected,  resented  the  Christians' 
mode  of  procedure.  Those  Jews  who  had  adopted  Chris- 
tianity were  regarded  as  apostates,  and  the  use  of  the  Old 
Testament  in  gentile  Christian  communities  was  viewed  as  a 
defilement  of  the  Scripture.  Hostility  was  all  the  more 
bitter  because  in  many  places  Jewish  and  Christian  com- 
munities existed  side  by  side  as  competitors  in  appealing  for  a 
following  among  the  heathen.  Under  these  circumstances 
bitter  enmity  was  inevitable,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
Jews  embraced  every  opportunity  to  persuade  the  authorities 
that  Christianity  was  politically  dangerous.  It  is  this  situa- 
tion which  causes  the  author  of  Revelation  to  exclaim  that  the 
Jews  of  Asia  are  veritably  a  synagogue  of  Satan  (2:9;  3:9). 
It  is  noticeable  also  that  the  writers  of  Luke-Acts  and  John 
take  pains  to  show  that  the  Roman  authorities  of  earlier 
days  found  Christianity  politically  harmless  in  spite  of  Jewish 
allegations  to  the  contrary.  These  are  indications  of  the  real 
difficulties  under  which  Christians  were  laboring  as  a  result  of 
the  new  religion's  continued  Jewish  connections  in  post- 
apostolic  times. 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  293 

Relation  to  the  Roman  state. — The  new  movement  con- 
fronted a  still  graver  difficulty  when  Roman  officials  began  to 
realize  that  it  no  longer  stood  within  Judaism.  The  Jewish 
religion  enjoyed  a  large  measure  of  tolerance  within  the  Roman 
Empire,  and  Christianity  at  first  shared  in  this  privilege.  But 
in  the  post-apostolic  age  its  independence  came  to  be  more  and 
more  appreciated  by  the  state  authorities,  who  occasionally 
sought  to  suppress  the  new  "superstition,"  as  they  called  it. 
The  exact  charge  upon  which  Christians  were  condemned  is 
not  always  clear,  but  the  causes  of  official  interference  are 
easily  discovered.  In  the  first  place  Rome  was  on  principle 
intolerant  of  new  cults,  at  whose  secret  meetings  disturbers 
might  hatch  up  political  sedition.  Sometimes  the  Jews  took 
advantage  of  this  situation  and  accused  Christians  before 
the  suspicious  Roman  magistrates.  Moreover,  pagans  also 
were  often  ill-disposed  toward  these  new  religionists  who 
held  aloof  from  the  common  life  of  the  community,  and  so 
won  for  themselves  the  epithet  of  "haters  of  the  human  race." 
Christianity  also  disturbed  economic  conditions,  as  Pliny's 
letter  attests.  And,  finally,  when  Christians  were  haled 
before  the  magistrates  they  would  neither  acknowledge 
Caesar's  lordship  nor  offer  incense  before  his  image,  thus 
virtually  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
state. 

The  specific  occasions  when  Christians  suffered  persecu- 
tion during  this  period  are  not  altogether  clear.  In  the 
closing  years  of  apostolic  times  (64  a.d.)  Nero  had  inflicted 
tortures  on  Christians  at  Rome,  but  probably  his  action  did 
not  extend  beyond  the  city.  There  were  persecutions  again 
under  Domitian  (81-96  a.d.)  which  may  have  reached  Asia 
and  given  occasion  for  the  writing  of  Revelation  and  I  Peter. 
Similar  events  recurred  under  Trajan  (98-117),  Hadrian  (117- 
38),  and  Antoninus  Pius  (138-61).  But  probably  the  extent 
and  severity  of  these  early  persecutions  have  been  somewhat 
exaggerated  in  later  tradition. 


294        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Organization  and  worship. — In  post-apostolic  times  the 
earHer  spontaneous  Hfe  as  seen  in  the  Pauline  communities  was 
supplanted  by  a  somewhat  more  orderly  and  formal  practice. 
Yet  the  primitive  spontaneity  was  not  entirely  lost.  There 
were  still  the  public  and  the  private  meetings,  though  the 
latter  were  tending  to  disappear.  Small  groups  met  at  private 
homes  for  prayer,  reading  and  interpretation  of  Scripture,  and 
exhortation.  But  greater  importance  attached  to  the  general 
meetings,  especially  to  those  held  on  Sunday.  The  members 
came  together  at  the  home  of  some  Christian  who  could 
furnish  the  necessary  room,  or  else  they  assembled  in  some 
place  rented  for  the  purpose.  There  was  one  gathering 
early  in  the  morning  where  the  time  was  taken  up  with 
Scripture  reading,  prayer,  and  preaching.  There  was  another 
assembly  in  the  evening  after  the  day's  work  was  over  when 
the  love  feast  (Agape)  was  eaten  and  the  Eucharist  was  cele- 
brated. But  the  Agape  gradually  disappeared  from  formal 
worship,  becoming  a  private  social  function,  while  the  Euchar- 
ist was  taken  over  into  the  other  service  where  its  ritualistic 
character  was  still  further  emphasized.  For  example, 
Did.  10:3  calls  it  "spiritual  food  and  drink  and  eternal  life"; 
in  John  6:51-59  it  is  said  that  they  alone  have  eternal  life 
who  eat  the  flesh  and  drink  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  Man;  and 
for  Ignatius  the  Eucharist  is  the  very  "medicine  of  immor- 
tahty,"  the  "bread  of  God"  (Eph.  20:2;  Rom.  7:3;  see 
also  Justin  Apol.  i.  66.  2). 

The  rite  of  baptism  is  also  further  formalized  in  this  period. 
Apparently  it  may  still  be  administered  by  any  Christian,  as 
in  Paul's  day  (I  Cor.  1:14-17),  but  several  specific  prescrip- 
tions for  its  observance  are  laid  down  (e.g..  Did.,  chap.  7). 
The  candidates  undergo  a  preliminary  training  ending  in 
a  season  of  fasting  immediately  preceding  the  administra- 
tion of .  the  rite  marking  the  individual's  entrance  into 
full  membership  in  the  church.  Baptism  freed  him  from 
the  dominion  of   evil   demons    and  supplied  him  with  the 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  295 

Holy  Spirit,  all  of  which  meant  a  new  birth  and  a  divine 
enlightenment. 

In  post-apostolic  times  the  new  society  also  became  more 
formally  ofhcered  than  it  had  been  in  the  preceding  genera- 
tion. This  phase  in  the  historical  development  is  often 
obscure,  but  its  main  outlines  are  recoverable.  It  is  very  clear 
that  the  authority  of  the  persons  who  directed  the  affairs  of 
the  Pauline  community  at  Corinth  rested  in  their  functional 
capacity  rather  than  in  official  appointment.  Yet  Paul 
himself  recognized  the  special  authority  of  the  leaders  at 
Jerusalem,  although  unwilling  to  admit  that  their  authority 
was  superior  to  his  own.  The  author  of  Acts,  however,  has 
gone  so  far  in  his  desire  for  formal  official  leadership  as  to  make 
the  Jerusalem  apostles  virtually  a  college  of  overseers  in- 
trusted with  the  task  of  supervising  affairs  not  only  in  the 
local  community,  but  also  in  all  the  adjacent  missionary  fields. 
This  is  the  general  direction  taken  by  the  developing  ecclesi- 
astical organization  of  the  post-apostolic  age.  As  yet  there  is 
no  central  authority  for  all  Christendom,  but  local  leadership 
tends  to  center  in  a  monarchical  bishop  with  presbyters  and 
deacons  as  his  subordinates.  The  duties  of  various  officials 
become  more  exactly  defined,  and  the  activities  of  the  pneu- 
matic traveling  prophet  are  less  highly  esteemed. 

The  content  of  Christian  teaching. — The  teaching  heard 
within  the  Christian  communities  of  post-apostolic  times  was 
still  very  largely  Jewish  in  content.  As  yet  the  only  recog- 
nized canonical  books  were  those  of  the  Old  Testament, 
although  many  distinctly  Christian  writings  were  in  circula- 
tion and  were  read  for  edification.  The  memory  of  the  blessed 
apostles  was  everywhere  cherished,  but  their  writings  had 
not  yet  been  made  canonical.  Yet  a  tendency  in  this  direc- 
tion had  begun  to  show  itself,  especially  in  the  new  conception 
of  Christianity  as  a  specific  body  of  teaching  authoritatively 
defined  and  once  for  all  delivered  unto  the  saints  (e.g.,  II  Tim. 
1:14;   Jude,  vs.  31). 


296        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

This  growing  deposit  of  faith  was  composed  of  many  differ- 
ent elements.  As  in  earlier  times,  Jewish  ideas  about  God, 
angels,  Satan,  and  demons  were  prominent.  The  end  of  the 
world  and  the  coming  of  the  apocalyptic  Messiah  were  still 
preached  (e.g.,  Mark  9:1;  I  Clem.  23:3-5;  Ignatius  Eph. 
11:  i;  Barn.  4:3,  9),  and  different  explanations  were  offered 
to  account  for  the  delay  in  the  Messiah's  coming  (e.g.,  Mark 
13:10;  II  Peter  3:4!?.).  In  the  meantime  Christians  called 
themselves  the  true  people  of  God  on  earth,  and  the  whole 
course  of  the  world's  history  was  believed  to  head  up  in  the 
church.  The  significance  of  Jesus'  work  occupied  the  center 
of  distinctively  Christian  teaching,  but  christological  specula- 
tion moved  along  several  new  hnes.  For  example,  the  Gospel 
of  Mark  pictured  Jesus'  uniqueness  in  terms  of  spiritual 
endowment  at  baptism;  the  authors  of  Matthew  and  Luke 
added  the  notion  of  miraculous  birth;  in  John  the  idea  of  the 
incarnate  Logos  was  adopted  to  explain  Jesus'  person.  Igna- 
tius also  insisted  emphatically  upon  the  idea  of  a  literal 
incarnation  of  Deity  in  Jesus,  while  other  thinkers  like 
Clement  of  Rome  and  the  authors  of  Hebrews,  Barnabas,  and 
the  Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews  made  their  respective 
contributions  to  Christology.  While  Jesus  was  elevated  to  a 
position  approaching  more  nearly  that  of  the  heavenly  Christ 
revered  in  the  worshiping  community,  Christianity  cannot 
be  said  to  have  evolved  as  yet  any  one  self-consistent  form  of 
christological  speculation. 

In  several  quarters  the  Christian  teaching  of  this  period 
is  framed  to  offset  the  work  of  "false  teachers."  These 
disturbers  were  not  unknown  in  apostolic  times  (e.g.,  the 
Judaizers),  but  later  they  became  more  prevalent  and  more 
dangerous.  The  author  of  Revelation  warns  his  readers 
against  these  individuals  in  Ephesus,  in  Pergamum,  and  in 
Thyatira.  The  letters  of  John  and  Jude,  and  by  implication 
also  the  Gospels  of  Luke  and  John,  show  a  similar  anxiety  for 
the  preservation  of  the   true    faith  as    understood    by   the 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  *  297 

orthodox.  The  Pastoral  Epistles  several  times  caution 
readers  against  being  caught  in  the  snare  of  vain  disputations, 
and  both  Ignatius  and  Polycarp  denounce  the  heretics. 
Numerous  incidental  references  in  other  documents  show 
how  general  these  disturbances  already  had  become  (e.g., 
Matt.  7:15-23;  24:iif.;  Acts  8 : 20 f.;  2o:2gi.]  Heb.  13:9; 
I  Pet.  2:16;  James  3:131!.;  Did.,  chap.  11;  I  Clem.,  chaps. 
23  ff.;  Barn.,  chap  4).  These  errors  are  occasional,  varied, 
and  for  the  most  part  still  within  the  church.  Their  general 
tendency,  however,  is  in  the  direction  of  Gnosticism,  which 
later,  as  we  shall  see,  developed  into  an  independent  Chris- 
tian movement. 

Attention  must  be  called  to  one  other  phase  of  Christian 
teaching  characteristic  of  this  period.  Although  the  advocates 
of  Christianity  were  quite  unconscious  of  the  process,  the  new 
movement  was  gradually  becoming  an  integral  part  of  the 
religious  life  of  the  Graeco-Roman  world.  A  few  indications 
of  this  fact  may  be  observed  in  passing.  While  Christians 
believed  that  they  were  perpetuating  Hebrew  monotheism 
in  its  purity,  in  the  prayers,  hymns,  confessions,  and  other 
ritualistic  acts  of  the  worshiping  community,  the  heavenly 
Christ  was  treated  as  himself  a  deity,  just  as  was  done  in  the 
case  of  the  special  divinities  worshiped  in  the  contemporary 
Hellenistic  cults.  The  titles  "Lord"  and  "Savior,"  current 
in  the  cult  of  the  emperor  and  in  the  mystery-religions,  were 
freely  applied  to  the  risen  Jesus.  His  "Name"  had  the  same 
magical  significance  as  that  of  other  divinities,  and  in  fact  the 
new  movement  sometimes  was  called  simply  the  religion  of  the 
"Name."  While  Ignatius  was  the  first  to  call  Jesus  God 
outright,  the  place  which  Jesus  occupied  in  the  reverence  of 
the  community  from  the  very  beginning  of  post-apostolic  times 
was  virtually  that  of  Deity.  Nor  was  Christian  thinking  any 
longer  content  as  Paul  had  been  to  locate  Jesus'  career  as 
Deity  in  heaven  only;  he  was  also  God  while  on  earth.  The 
earlier  apostolic  problem  of  the  man- God  now  became  the 


298      Guide  to  study  of  christian  religion 

problem  of  the  God-man.  In  their  efforts  to  solve  this  prob- 
lem the  post-apostolic  Christians  freely  availed  themselves  of 
contemporary  Hellenistic  thinking,  in  which  the  God-man  was 
a  familiar  figure. 

Various  subsidiary  phases  of  Christian  thinking  during 
this  period  also  show  the  influence  of  the  Graeco-Roman 
environment.  Jewish  views  regarding  the  fate  of  the  soul 
after  death  were  not  entirely  abandoned,  but  they  were  to  a 
considerable  extent  fused  with  a  more  distinctly  Greek 
imagery.  Less  importance  was  now  attached  to  the  resusci- 
tation of  the  body  and  the  notion  of  final  judgment,  and  more 
stress  was  placed  upon  the  soul's  entrance  into  final  blessed- 
ness immediately  after  death  (e.g.,  Luke  16:22;  23:43;  John 
14 : 2  f .) .  The  complementary  idea  of  a  place  of  punishment  to 
which  the  wicked  went  immediately  upon  leaving  the  earth  was 
also  a  popular  Hellenistic  notion  (cf.  Luke  16:23,  ^-^^  espe- 
cially the  Apocalypse  of  Peter) .  The  conception  of  religion  as 
the  attainment  of  "Knowledge"  and  "Life"^ — ideas  occurring 
in  the  Didache,  John,  I  Clement,  and  Ignatius — have  striking 
parallels  in  contemporary  Hellenicism.  The  peculiarly  Stoic 
notion  of  divine  immanence  also  finds  expression  in  such 
Christian  statements  as  "in  him  we  live  and  move  and  have 
our  being"  (Acts  17:28). 

The  Christian  life. — In  post-apostolic  times  Christian 
living  also  had  its  characteristic  features.  The  personnel  of 
the  communities  was  greatly  diversified.  Most  of  the  mem- 
bership was  still  composed  of  adult  converts — some  from 
Judaism,  but  a  rapidly  increasing  majority  from  paganism. 
Various  nationalities  were  represented,  as  well  as  many  differ- 
ent tastes  and  interests.  The  new  movement  was  located 
mainly  in  the  cities,  although  in  some  places  it  had  penetrated 
into  the  country  districts.  The  majority  of  its  adherents 
still  belonged  to  the  lower  classes,  but  the  number  of 
prosperous  and  more  influential  converts  was  gradually 
increasing.  *  . 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  299 

Christians  were  exhorted  by  their  teachers  to  hold  them- 
selves scrupulously  aloof  from  the  contaminating  influences 
of  heathen  society.  Not  only  heathen  worship,  but  pagan 
life  in  general,  was  adjudged  a  work  of  Satan  and  his  evil 
demons.  Over  against  this  Satanic  society  stood  the  assembly 
of  the  saints  on  earth.  To  be  sure,  many  Christians  proved 
themselves  to  be  mere  babes  in  sainthood,  as  the  leaders  of  the 
new  religion  often  sadly  admitted.  But  the  ideal  was  high, 
and  much  attention  was  given  to  the  means  by  which  it 
might  be  attained.  Of  course  the  rites  of  the  cult  were 
indispensable,  but  the  daily  life  of  the  individual  needed 
constant  attention  if  the  highest  attainments  in  piety  were  to 
be  reached. 

Among  these  special  means  of  grace  the  Spirit  still  held  an 
important  place.  Spiritual  manifestations  were  more  care- 
fully controlled  than  in  Paul's  day,  and  the  Spirit  was  no  longer 
so  completely  regulative  for  all  Christian  activities.  Yet  it 
was  thought  to  be  the  common  possession  of  all  believers 
(e.g.,  Heb.  6:4;  Barn.  1:2;  I  Clem.  2:2;  I  John  2:20).  It 
expressed  itself  in  various  ways,  but  especial  emphasis  now 
fell  upon  the  activity  of  the  Spirit  in  communicating  to  men 
the  Old  Testament  revelation.  The  prophetic  Spirit  speak- 
ing through  the  Scriptures  now  took  precedence  over  those 
more  spontaneous  forms  of-charismatic  activity  characteristic 
of  apostolic  times. 

Some  new  instruments  for  the  attainment  of  special  grades 
of  piety  were  discovered,  or  newly  applied,  in  post-apostolic 
times.  One  very  serious  question  concerned  the  treatment 
of  members  who  sinned  after  becoming  Christians.  Certain 
heinous  sins  seem  generally  to  have  been  regarded  as  unpardon- 
able (Mark  3 :  29  f. ;  Heb.  6:4  ff.;  Did.  11:7;  I  John  5: 16  f.), 
but  a  large  opportunity  for  repentance  was  usually  allowed 
(Rev.  2:21  f.;  John  7:53 — 8:11).  Much  stress  was  placed 
upon  the  act  of  confession,  especially  public  confession,  as  a 
condition  of  forgiveness.     Those  of  stronger  moral  character 


300        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

sought  to  transcend  the  ordinary  requirements  of  righteous- 
ness and  win  special  merit  through  the  performance  of 
"good  works" — ^ahnsgiving,  fasting,  special  prayer,  and 
asceticism.  The  greatest  rewards,  however,  could  be  attained 
only  through  martyrdom. 

Thus  two  main  grades  of  piety  came  to  be  generally  recog- 
nized. The  lower  was  that  of  the  ordinary  man  who,  from  lack 
of  opportunity  or  through  native  inability,  was  unable  to  attain 
to  the  higher  level.  On  the  other  hand,  a  chosen  few,  diligent 
in  almsgiving,  prayer,  fasting,  ascetic  observances,  and  wit- 
nessing, attained  to  a  position  of  especial  reverence  in  the 
community  and  were  believed  to  inherit  the  richest  rewards  of 
heaven. 

Literature. — The  best  book  on  this  specific  period  is  R.  Knopf,  Das 
nachapostolische  Zeitalter  (Tiibingen:  Mohr,  1905).  See  also  books  on 
the  Apostolic  Age  (above,  p.  279),  which  sometimes  treat  the  period  only 
in  so  far  as  the  New  Testament  writings  are  connected  with  the  history. 
See  also  "General  References"  (below,  p.  324). 

VIII.      THE  WORK  OF  THE  EARLY  APOLOGISTS 

New  tendencies, — When  a  student  has  followed  with  some 
care  the  course  of  Christianity's  development  in  post-apostolic 
times,  he  has  become  familiar  with  the  main  features  char- 
acterizing the  new  religion  during  the  next  two  generations. 
The  age  of  the  apologists  did  not  produce  any  very  radically 
new  features  in  Christianity.  Yet,  although  the  leading 
apologists  themselves  stood  definitely  within  the  Christian 
communities  as  already  established,  they  do  represent  certain 
new  tendencies  in  the  growth  of  the  new  religion.  In  general, 
they  aim  to  show  that  Christianity  is  really  deserving  of  a 
recognized  place  in  the  world.  The  patient  unaggressive 
attitude  of  earlier  times  is  gradually  superseded  by  a  growing 
disposition  toward  self-defense  and  aggression.  The  apologists 
address  themselves  to  the  emperors;  they  contend  for  the 
superiority  of  Christianity  over  the  culture  and  religion  of 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  301 

the  contemporary  world;  they  vigorously  attack  Jewish 
opponents,  and  occasionally  they  also  refute  the  heretics 
who  have  now  become  independent  of  the  church. 

The  individual  apologists. — Apart  from  writings  like 
Luke-Acts  and  John,  which  are  essentially  apologetic  in  spirit 
if  not  in  form,  the  earliest  apologist  known  is  Quadratus.  But 
only  a  very  small  fragment  of  his  work,  which  was  addressed 
to  Hadrian  about  124  a.d.,  is  now  extant.  About  the  year 
150  Aristides,  a  Christian  philosopher  of  Athens,  addressed 
to  Antoninus  Pius  a  defense  of  Christianity,  the  main  con- 
tention being  that  true 'knowledge  of  God  is  found  only  in  the 
new  religion.  While  the  Jews  profess  to  believe  in  one  god 
they  are  accused  of  really  worshiping  angels ;  the  gods  of  the 
Greeks  are  merely  gross  anthropomorphic  creatures,  and  the 
deities  of  the  barbarians  are  simply  the  forces  of  nature. 
Only  by  the  fourth  division  of  humanity,  the  Christians,  is 
God  truly  known  and  worshiped. 

Justin  was  a  Hellenistic  philosopher  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity in  Asia  about  130  a.d.,  but  his  chief  work  was  done 
at  Rome,  where  he  conducted  a  Christian  school  until  over- 
taken by  a  martyr's  death  about  the  year  165.  Among  his 
genuine  extant  writings  are  a  longer  and  a  shorter  apology  in 
which  he  contends  for  the  innocence  of  Christians  and  affirms 
that  Christianity  is  worthy  of  recognition  as  the  true  religion 
and  the  true  philosophy.  Similarly,  in  another  work,  the  Dia- 
logue with  Trypho,  Christianity's  superiority  over  Judaism  is 
affirmed  on  the  ground  that  Christians  alone  are  the  true  Israel. 

Tatian,  a  pupil  of  Justin,  also  addressed  a  defense  of 
Christianity  to  the  Greeks.  He  describes  Greek  culture  as  a 
body  of  error,  while  Christianity  is  the  true  wisdom  running 
back  through  all  antiquity.  Moses  is  said  to  have  antedated 
Homer  by  four  hundred  years,  and  since  the  Old  Testament  is 
claimed  as  the  pecuhar  property  of  Christianity,  the  new 
religion  possesses  both  the  prestige  of  antiquity  and  the  deposit 
of  real  revelation. 


302         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Several  fragments  are  preserved  from  Melito  of  Sardis,  who 
addressed  an  apology  to  Marcus  Aurelius.  To  the  same 
emperor  Athenagoras,  possibly  of  Athens,  directed  an  appeal 
on  behalf  of  the  Christians  about  177  a.d.  The  argument 
proceeded  along  usual  lines,  defending  Christians  against 
calumnies  and  dwelling  upon  the  nobiHty  of  the  Christian  con- 
ception of  God.  In  still  another  work  Athenagoras  attempted 
to  furnish  a  philosophical  basis  for  behef  in  the  resurrection. 

Theophilus,  bishop  of  Antioch  in  Syria,  some  time  after 
the  death  of  Marcus  Aurehus  (180  a.d.)  also  composed  three 
apologetic  books  addressed  to  a  heathen  called  Autolycus. 
About  the  same  date  a  Roman  Christian,  Minucius  Felix, 
wrote  a  defensive  treatise  modeled  after  Cicero's  De  natura 
deorum. 

All  these  early  apologists  were  interested  in  demanding 
tolerance  from  the  state  and  in  defending  the  new  religion's 
superiority  over  pagan  religions  and  philosophies.  To  a  less 
extent  they  refuted  Jewish  critics,  and  incidentally  they  now 
and  then  condemned  heretics.  Thus  representative  leaders 
in  different  parts  of  Christendom  were  beginning  to  widen 
their  range  of  vision  and  claim  for  the  new  religion  a  recog- 
nized place  in  that  ancient  world. 

The  specific  problem  of  the  apologists. — All  the  apologists 
were  engaged  in  the  general  task  of  proving  to  the  heathen 
the  absolute  rationality  and  universaUty  of  the  Christian 
rehgion,  the  true  philosophy.  But  their  more  specific  prob- 
lem was  a  christological  one.  During  the  Apostolic  Age,  and 
especially  in  post-apostoHc  times,  the  process  of  pushing  back 
upon  the  earthly  Jesus  the  glory  of  the  heavenly  Christ  was 
gradually  completed.  No  distinction  was  any  longer  made 
between  the  historical  Jesus  and  the  Christ  of  faith  to  whom 
Christians  directed  their  prayers  and  confessions,  in  whose 
name  they  were  baptized,  of  whose  immortal  substance  they 
partook  in  the  Eucharist,  and  whose  divine  glory  they  cele- 
brated in  their  hymns.     The  fulness  of  Deity  thus  popularly 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  303 

ascribed  to  the  heavenly  Christ  was  freely  posited  of  the  man 
Jesus.  He  was  now  definitely  called  a  Second  God  (Seurepos 
debs).  The  apologists  shared  in  full  this  item  of  popular 
faith,  and  the  necessity  of  defending  it  against  the  charge  of 
polytheism  gave  them  their  special  problem.  Polytheism 
had  long  ago  been  discarded,  not  only  by  Jews,  but  by  the 
better  educated  classes  of  the  Graeco-Roman  world,  and 
strong  monotheistic  tendencies  had  appeared  within  those 
circles  where  either  Platonic  idealism  or  Stoic  pantheism 
exerted  a  dominating  influence.  Christians  were  now 
accused  of  being  polytheists  both  by  Jewish  and  by  pagan 
critics.  Jewish  criticism  was  taken  less  seriously,  since  hope 
of  winning  any  large  Jewish  following  had  been  abandoned. 
But  the  desirabihty  of  meeting  gentile  objections  was  felt 
more  keenly,  and  the  apologists  set  themselves  to  the  specific 
task  of  proving  that  Christians  were  really  monotheists  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  they  worshiped  Jesus  as  God. 

The  Logos  Christology. — The  chief  instrument  employed 
by  the  apologists  in  defense  of  Christian  monotheism  was  the 
notion  of  the  Logos.  This  word,  which  was  already  doing 
service  in  various  connections  among  their  pagan  contempo- 
raries, was  appropriated  by  the  apologists  without  any 
thoroughgoing  attempt  to  define  its  exact  meaning.  Their 
primary  interest  was  in  Christianity  as  a  new  cult,  and 
philosophical  terminology  was  employed  only  as  an  expedient 
to  serve  the  apologetic  needs  of  the  rehgionist.  In  other  words , 
we  have  here  to  do  with  the  rehgionist  turned  philosopher  and 
not  with  the  philosopher  interpreting  rehgion  in  terms  of  a 
carefully  devised  system  of  philosophical  speculation. 

This  opportunist  character  of  the  apologists'  work  is 
apparent  in  their  Christology.  While  they  called  Jesus  God, 
they  endeavored  to  unite  him  with  the  supreme  Deity  by 
means  of  the  Logos  as  a  divine  emanation  or  hypostasis.  In 
this  way  they  hoped  not  only  to  meet  the  demands  of  philo- 
sophical monotheism  but  to  estabhsh  the  rationahty  and 


304         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

universality  of  Christianity.  Since  the  Logos  was  commonly 
supposed  to  be  the  source  of  all  intelligence  within  the  universe 
everywhere  and  at  all  times,  all  the  enlightenment  of  the  past 
could  be  called  essentially  Christian  in  content  and  all  present 
and  future  wisdom  must  be  sought  within  Christian  circles 
where  the  Logos  had  finally  been  perfectly  revealed. 

The  philosophical  versus  the  mythical  motive. — Happy 
as  this  Christian  apologetic  may  on  first  sight  seem,  it  con- 
tained features  which  made  it  impossible  of  acceptance  for 
the  real  philosopher  of  that  day.  It  was  of  the  nature  of  all 
genuine  Hellenistic  Logos-doctrine  that  man  by  creation  had 
the  Logos-enlightenment  in  virtue  of  which  he  could  by 
searching  find  out  God.  This  was  emphatically  denied  by  the 
apologists,  whose  ultimate  criterion  of  religious  knowledge  was 
not  reason  at  all,  but  supernatural,  special  revelation.  The- 
oretically they  allowed  that  the  Logos  had  been  present  in  the 
gentile  world  before  the  coming  of  Christ,  yet  they  affirmed 
that  this  manifestation  was  of  a  very  inferior  sort  and  that 
the  Greek  philosophers  had  in  the  main  produced  only  a 
mass  of  errors.  Nor  could  a  contemporary  philosopher  attain 
true  wisdom  outside  the  Christian  community.  Ultimately 
true  philosophy,  i.e.,  true  religion,  was  a  divine  donation 
rather  than  a  human  attainment,  and  could  be  acquired  only 
through  acquaintance  with  revelation  contained  in  the  Old 
Testament  and  finally  brought  to  completion  in  the  Logos 
Christ. 

When  the  apologists  took  this  stand  they  really  sided,  not 
with  the  philosophers,  but  with  the  mythologists  of  their  day. 
The  Christian  Logos  was  not  a  normal  quantum  of  divine 
rational  energy  possessed  in  common  by  mankind,  but  a 
heroic  figure  descended  to  earth  under  one  special  set  of  cir- 
cumstances in  order  to  redeem  a  hopelessly  lost  humanity. 
By  interpreting  Christianity  in  this  way  the  apologists 
probably  did  more  to  secure  its  place  in  that  world  than  they 
could  have  done  by  adopting  outright  the  more  rational 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  305 

methods  of  philosophy.  Although  the  mythical  deities  of 
Greece  and  Rome  were  no  longer  generally  revered,  the  mythi- 
cal motive  was  still  strong  even  among  the  educated.  The 
force  of  this  motive  outside  of  Christianity  is  amply  attested, 
for  example,  in  the  abundant  allegory  of  the  Stoics.  By 
employing  this  device  they  recognized,  in  spite  of  their  insist- 
ence upon  the  rational  (XoyLKos)  character  of  the  whole  uni- 
verse, that  in  the  realm  of  religion  the  functioning  significance 
of  myth  was  far  stronger  than  that  of  reason. 

In  mythicizing  the  Logos  by  identifying  it  with  an  indi- 
vidual the  apologists  were  not  doing  absolutely  original  work. 
Their  notable  predecessor  within  Christianity  was  the  author 
of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  but  both  he  and  they  had  Hellenistic 
predecessors.  The  outstanding  Hellenistic  figure  who  was 
supposed  to  have  functioned  as  the  creative,  revealing,  redeem- 
ing Logos  was  Hermes,  though  various  other  divine  heroes, 
such  as  Osiris  and  Thot  among  the  Egyptians,  played  a  similar 
role.  When  Christians  pictured  Jesus  as  the  incarnation  of  the 
-enlightening,  saving  Logos  they  were  but  giving  further  evi- 
dence of  their  skill  and  wisdom  in  reinterpreting  his  career 
in  such  way  as  to  make  him  minister  to  the  needs  of  that  larger 
world  to  which  expanding  Christianity  was  now  making  its 
appeal. 

Literature. — In  addition  to  appropriate  sections  of  books  mentioned 
among  "General  References"  (p.  324),  see  J.  Geffcken,  Zwei  griechische 
Apologeten  (Leipzig:  Teubner,  1907);  J.  Riviere,  Saint  Justin  et  les 
apologistes  du  second  siecle  (Paris:  Bloud,  1907);  A.  Peuch,  Les  Apolo- 
gistes  grecs  du  IP  siecle  de  notre  ere  (Paris:  Hachette,  191 2). 

IX.      GNOSTICISM 

General  characteristics. — Another  effort  to  connect  early 
Christianity  with  contemporary  Hellenicism  was  made  in  the 
movement  commonly  termed  Gnosticism.  This  attempt  was 
much  more  thoroughgoing  than  that  of  the  apologists,  it  pro- 
ceeded along  quite  different  lines,  and  it  met  with  strong 


3o6        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

opposition  from  Christians  themselves.  The  apologists 
subordinated  speculation  to  the  faith  of  the  worshiping  com- 
munity, they  dealt  mainly  with  the  christological  problem, 
and  they  kept  Christianity  bound  up  closely  with  the  Jewish 
Scriptures.  The  Gnostics,  on  the  other  hand,  made  specula- 
tion paramount,  they  freely  deviated  from  the  traditional 
opinions  of  the  community,  their  main  problem  was  soteriology 
rather  than  Christology,  and  they  generally  sought  to  sever 
Christianity  from  its  Jewish  connections. 

There  was  still  another  fundamental  difference  between  the 
Gnostics  and  the  apologists.  In  so  far  as  the  latter  were  con- 
trolled by  speculative  interests  they  inclined  toward  the 
monistic  world- view  of  the  Stoics  and  endeavored  by  a  shifty 
use  of  the  Logos-idea  to  fit  into  this  philosophical  schema  the 
essentially  contradictory  notion  of  a  special  supernatural 
revelation  mediated  through  the  Jewish  Scripture  and  the 
Christian  cult.  On  the  contrary,  the  Gnostics  were  out-and- 
out  dualists.  The  good  and  the  evil  worlds  were  sharply  con- 
trasted, and  were  not  united  by  any  natural  bond.  Man 
belonged  to  the  evil  world,  his  soul  only  having  any  original 
connection  with  the  good,  and  in  his  present  state  he  was 
utterly  helpless  until  aid  came  to  him  from  the  supernatural 
realm.  And  since  this  help  came  for  the  express  purpose  of 
delivering  the  soul  from  the  world  of  evil  matter,  the  divine 
deliverer  could  have  no  essential  and  natural  bond  of  unity 
with  matter.  Hence  the  Gnostics'  fundamental  interest  in 
soteriology  and  their  comparative  lack  of  interest  in  the  his- 
torical man  Jesus  whom  the  apologists  sought  to  define  in 
terms  of  the  Logos  incarnation. 

The  antecedents  of  Gnosticism. — In  order  to  understand 
the  genius  of  Christian  Gnosticism  one  must  glance  briefly  at 
its  antecedents.  It  used  to  be  said  that  Gnosticism  resulted 
from  a  fusion  of  Greek  philosophy  and  Christianity  in  the 
second  century,  but  the  investigations  of  recent  years  have 
shown   the   inadequacy   of   this   hypothesis.     Scholars   now 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  307 

recognize  a  pre-Christian  as  well  as  a  Christian  Gnosticism, 
its  philosophical  basis  in  each  case  being  far  more  oriental 
than  Hellenic.  It  is  Hellenistic  to  be  sure,  in  that  it  com- 
bines Hellenic  and  oriental  elements,  but  the  latter  largely 
predominate.  For  instance.  Gnostic  dualism  is  not  of  the 
Platonic  type  which  distinguishes  between  an  ideal  and 
invisible  world  on  the  one  hand  and  a  real  and  visible  one  on 
the  other,  the  latter  being  modeled  after  the  former.  In  con- 
trast with  Plato,  Gnostic  dualism  posited  two  opposing 
dominions  within  the  visible  world,  one  presided  over  by  the 
powers  of  darkness  and  the  other  belonging  to  the  kingdom 
of  light.  Matter  was  wholly  evil,  and  only  through  a  divine 
redemption  could  the  human  soul  be  delivered  from  its 
bondage  in  matter.  Hence  salvation  meant  deliverance  from 
the  dominion  of  evil — a  deliverance  to  be  realized  by  the 
individual  through  a  knowledge  of  the  good  Deity  as  revealed 
in  the  teaching  and  sacraments  of  the  cult.  Therefore  knowl- 
edge (ypuiaLs,  gnosis)  in  the  Gnostic  sense  has  nothing  to  do 
with  philosophical  knowledge  in  the  Greek  sense  of  the  word, 
but  is  an  affair  of  supernatural  revelation.  These,  and  a 
host  of  other  distinctive  Gnostic  notions  which  might  be 
mentioned,  prove  beyond  question  the  genuinely  oriental 
character  of  the  movement — ^whether  we  trace  it  ultimately 
to  Persia,  Babylonia,  or  Egypt. 

Relation  to  Paul. — At  the  outset  it  must  be  apparent 
that  Paul  was  to  some  extent  influenced  by  this  same  type 
of  oriental  thinking.  His  dualistic  world-view,  like  that  of 
other  Jews  of  his  day,  was  essentially  oriental.  For  him 
"flesh"  was  a  serious  hindrance  to  spiritual  Hfe,  even  if  he 
did  not  assign  a  wholly  evil  origin  to  matter.  The  prac- 
tically hopeless  condition  of  the  human  soul  in  its  natural 
state,  and  the  absolute  necessity  of  supernatural  redemption, 
were  also  characteristic  Pauline  ideas.  The  notion  of  an 
indwelling  heavenly  possession  within  the  behever — which  he 
usually    called   Spirit   rather   than   gnosis — his   deprecatory 


3o8        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

estimate  of  marriage,  and  his  pessimistic  view  of  the  present 
world  generally  are  all  of  a  piece  with  the  pre-Christian 
Gnostic  way  of  thinking. 

But  Paul  was  quite  un-Gnostic  in  supposing  that  the 
world  of  matter  could  have  been  created  by  the  good  Deity, 
and  in  holding  that  supernatural  revelation  came  through  spe- 
cific historical  events,  such  as  the  giving  of  the  Law  to  Moses 
or  the  advent  of  Jesus.  These  and  other  differences  separated 
Paul  from  the  pre-Christian  Gnostics,  yet  the  similarity  be- 
tween him  and  them  was  so  close  that  Gnosticism  and  Chris- 
tianity fused  most  readily  in  the  realm  of  Paulinism.  As  a 
consequence  of  this  fact  the  main  stream  of  Christianity, 
which  ran  counter  to  the  gnosticizing  of  the  new  religion, 
also  practically  rejected  Paul  during  the  period  when  the 
Gnostic  movement  was  most  aggressive.  This  situation 
prevailed  all  through  post-apostolic  times  as  well  as  during  the 
age  of  the  early  apologists. 

Earliest  contact  with  Christianity. — Previous  to  the  rise 
of  definite  Christian  Gnostic  leaders  who  estabhshed  inde- 
pendent Gnostic  movements,  traces  of  Gnostic  influence  upon 
Christianity  appear  in  several  quarters  even  outside  of  the 
Pauline  epistles.  The  false  teachers  of  early  post-apostoHc 
days  (see  above,  p.  296)  usually  represent  some  form  of 
this  speculation,  although  they  sometimes  differed  widely 
from  one  another,  since  Gnosticism  was  not  really  a  uniform 
system  but  a  family  of  kindred  tendencies  in  thinking.  For 
example,  within  the  churches  addressed  by  the  author  of 
Revelation  there  were  members  who  claimed  to  be  so  thor- 
oughly enhghtened  and  free  from  this  world  that  they  could 
visit  the  heathen  feasts,  or  even  break  the  rules  of  chastity, 
with  impunity.  They  seem  to  have  thought  that  since 
Gnostic  salvation  was  an  affair  of  the  spirit  only  it  was  of  httle 
or  no  consequence  what  the  mortal  body  did  when  once  the 
spirit  had  become  thoroughly  enhghtened.  In  the  epistles 
of  John  and  of  Ignatius  we  meet  with  Christians  who  apply 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  309 

the  Gnostic  notion  of  matter  to  Christ  and  affirm  that  he, 
being  a  truly  divine  dehverer,  cannot  have  been  really 
united  to  a  body  of  sinful  flesh — and  all  flesh  was  evil.  His 
residence  in  the  body  of  the  man  Jesus  was  said  to  be  only 
temporary,  extending  merely  from  baptism  to  the  crucifixion 
(Adoptionism) ;  or  else  he  never  had  a  real  body  at  all,  but 
was  only  an  apparition  (Docetism).  Again,  in  the  Pastoral 
Epistles,  as  in  Colossians,  certain  Christian  teachers  boast  of 
their  pneumatic  equipment  and  show  a  fondness  for  Gnostic 
speculation  regarding  angels  and  aeons.  Polycarp  refers  to 
other  errorists  who,  true  to  the  Gnostic  doctrine  of  matter's 
evil  character,  deny  that  there  will  ever  be  any  resurrection 
of  the  body. 

The  chief  Gnostic  leaders. — The  full  significance  of 
Gnosticism  for  the  history  of  early  Christianity  does  not 
appear  until  a  definite  and  influential  Gnostic  leadership  arises. 
Many  of  its  champions  were  evidently  persons  of  force  and 
character,  but  unfortunately  our  knowledge  of  them  is  con- 
fined almost  wholly  to  information  derived  from  their  oppo- 
nents. There  are  a  few  original  documents  extant  in  Coptic 
translations  and  some  lengthy  quotations  are  preserved  in  the 
writings  of  the  Fathers  (e.g.,  Irenaeus,  Tertullian,  Hippolytus, 
Clement  of  jAlexandria,  Origen).  But  often  little  more  than 
the  name  of  a  teacher,  or  the  name  of  some  school,  is  known. 

The  Christian  Gnostic  movement  arose  early  and  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  Mediterranean  world.  The  Ophites  and  the 
Naassenes  are  names  commonly  applied  to  a  very  early 
type  of  this  speculation,  in  which  the  pre-Christian  features 
are  especially  in  evidence.  Among  specific  teachers,  at  the 
close  of  the  first  century  Cerinthus  appears  in  Asia,  and  at 
about  the  same  time  Satornilus  (Saturninus) ,  whose  prede- 
cessors were  Simon  Magus  and  Menander,  taught  in  Syria. 
But  Alexandria  is  especially  noted  as  the  home  of  the  move- 
ment. Here  BasiHdes  established  a  school  about  the  year 
130  A.D.,  either  selecting  or  composing  a  special  gospel,  and 


3IO        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

writing  a  commentary  upon  it  in  twenty-four  books.  More 
famous  still  was  Valentinus  {ca.  150  a.d.),  who  worked  first 
in  Alexandria  and  then  in  Rome.  His  pupil  Theodotus  estab- 
lished a  school  in  the  East  and  another  pupil,  Ptolemaeus, 
estabhshed  one  in  the  West.  From  about  145  to  165  a.d. 
Marcion  was  an  influential  Gnostic  teacher  at  Rome,  and 
communities  representing  his  particular  views  soon  sprang 
up  in  different  parts  of  the  Mediterranean  world.  He  is 
especially  noted  for  his  efforts  to  persuade  the  church  that 
the  Jewish  sacred  Scriptures  should  be  displaced  by  a  specifi- 
cally Christian  canon  composed  of  the  Gospel  of  Luke  and  the 
Epistles  of  Paul.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  second  and  early 
in  the  third  century  Eastern  Gnosticism  had  a  powerful 
champion  in  Bardesanes  of  Edessa. 

The  Gnostic  system. — The  Gnostic  movement  was  so  com- 
plex, and  individual  Gnostics  exercised  so  large  a  measure  of 
personal  hberty  in  thinking,  that  no  specific  Gnostic  system 
of  Christian  theology  can  be  exactly  defined.  But  its  main 
characteristics  are  ascertainable,  and  a  brief  sketch  of  these 
will  serve  to  show  the  skilful  way  in  which  the  movement 
met  some  of  the  most  perplexing  problems  of  that  age. 

1 .  The  chief  feature  of  Gnosticism  was  its  sharp  separation 
between  the  god-  of  light  and  the  god  of  darkness,  with  their 
respective  divine  associates.  These  two  groups  of  divinities 
were  supposed  to  be  constantly  carrying  on  a  fierce  confhct 
with  one  another  for  the  possession  of  the  human  soul.  The 
scene  of  conflict  was  the  earth  where  man  now  dwelt,  and  also 
the  upper  air  through  which  the  soul  must  pass  on  its  way 
to  the  highest  heavens. 

2.  This  material  world,  and  the  material  body  containing 
the  soul,  were  beHeved  to  be  wholly  evil.  Matter  was  evil 
because  it  had  been  created  by  the  evil  powers.  The  creator 
of  the  present  world  cannot  have  been  a  good  god,  else  the 
world  would  have  been  wholly  good,  but  man  knew  by 
experience  that  it  was  not  good.     Therefore  its  creator  must 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  311 

be  bad.     Thus  the  Gnostics  offered — -if  we  grant  their  premises 
— a  very  simple  solution  of  the  ever-present  problem  of  evil. 

3.  The  soul  of  man  did  not  originally  belong  to  this  world 
of  created  matter.  It  was  a  fragment  from  the  realm  of  Hght 
which  by  some  mishap  had  sunk  down  and  become  entangled 
in  evil  matter.  Here  it  abode  in  ignorance  and  agony, 
utterly  unable  of  itself  to  fight  its  way  back  to  the  realm  of 
light  whence  it  had  fallen. 

4.  But  a  way  of  salvation  had  been  provided.  Another 
and  more  powerful  emissary  from  the  realm  of  light  had 
descended  into  this  realm  of  darkness  in  order  to  bring  aid 
to  the  helpless  soul.  Originally  this  deliverer  seems  to  have 
been  conceived  of  as  a  principle  of  salvation,  or  a  hypostasis, 
rather  than  a  person.  But  it  was  portrayed  in  mythical  form 
under  the  image  of  the -Primal  Man  (cf.  the  Son  of  Man  of 
Jewish  and  Christian  apocalyptic),  the  Heavenly  Mother, 
and — in  Christian  Gnosticism — the  pre-existent  Christ. 

5.  This  aid  was  mediated  to  specific  souls  by  means  of  the 
cultus.  Through  the  rites  of  initiation  and  worship  the 
individual  received  a  new  increment  from  the  world  of  light 
by  which  he  learned  the  secrets  of  divine  wisdom  enabling 
his  soul  to  pass  safely  all  the  gateways  on  the  road  to  heaven. 

6.  Different  individuals  might  attain  different  degrees  of 
enlightenment,  but  every  believer  received  a  new  guiding 
power  in  his  hfe  which  freed  him  from  the  bondage  of  the 
flesh.  The  logic  of  this  behef  often  led  to  asceticism.  Since 
matter  was  evil,  the  appetites  of  the  body  were  to  be  sup- 
pressed, and  since  the  begetting  of  children  meant  the  per- 
petuation of  evil  matter,  marriage  ought  also  to  be  avoided. 
In  some  cases,  however,  the  exaltation  of  the  enlightened 
mind  over  matter  was  made  to  justify  Hbertinism.  One 
might  let  the  body  have  its  way,  since  the  enlightened  spirit 
only  counted  for  things  eternal. 

7.  This  depreciation  of  the  physical  body  determined  the 
Gnostics'  notion  of  the  earthly  Jesus.     The  man  Jesus  of 


312         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Nazareth  could  have  no  central  place  in  their  system;  they 
needed  only  the  pre-existent  angelic  Christ.  Though  they 
adopted  the  myth  of  the  God-man  as  a  means  of  portraying 
concretely  the  scheme  of  redemption,  they  were  loath  to  allow- 
that  he  had  any  natural  connection  with  an  actual  human 
being.  Some  said  that  he  was  only  an  apparition  while  on 
earth  (Cerinthus) ,  others  thought  that  he  resided  temporarily 
in  the  man  Jesus  (Basilides),  while  others  employed  the 
notion  of  a  virgin  birth  as  a  means  of  obtaining  a  unique  body 
worthy  to  enshrine  this  heavenly  spirit  (so  the  later  Valen- 
tinians) . 

8.  The  Gnostics'  view  of  matter  was  logically  accompanied 
by  an  inferior  estimate  of  the  worth  of  human  history.  They 
rejected  Judaism,  along  with  the  popular  Christian  notion 
that  the  Old  Testament  was  a  divine  revelation.  Most 
Gnostics  said  that  the  creation  of  evil  matter  must  have  been 
the  work  of  an  inferior  evil  deity,  hence  the  Jews  had  been 
worshiping  a  demon  rather  than  the  god  of  light.  Inci- 
dentally, Christianity  was  thereby  reheved  of  the  embarrass- 
ment of  explaining  its  connections  with  the  unpopular  Jewish 
race. 

9.  Since  revelation  was  not  to  be  found  in  Judaism  it  was 
located  in  Christianity  alone.  So  the  leading  Gnostics 
proceeded  to  canonize  distinctively  Christian  writings  and  to 
elaborate  them  by  extended  works  of  interpretation.  Thus 
it  was  in  the  Gnostic  movement  that  Christianity  first  found 
fluent  literary  expression  aS  well  as  the  stimulus  for  assembling 
a  New  Testament  canon  of  Scripture. 

The  historical  significance  of  Gnosticism. — Notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  the  Gnostics  were  condemned  as  heretics, 
the  movement  they  represented  cannot  have  failed  to  satisfy 
numerous  popular  needs  peculiar  to  the  situation  of  that  age. 
Indeed,  orthodox  Christianity  actually  enriched  itself  both 
by  absorbing  certain  features  of  Gnosticism  and  by  developing 
new  phases  within  its  own  life  to  offset  similar  items  in  the 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  313 

heretical  movements.     A  few  illustrations  of  these  lines  of 
development  should  be  particularly  observed. 

1.  The  growth  of  Christian  asceticism  within  the  orthodox 
communities,  finally  resulting  in  monasticism,  was  doubtless 
greatly  stimulated  by  the  Gnostic  notion  of  matter.  And  it 
is  possible  that  the  Gnostic  idea  of  divine  knowledge  as  a  per- 
sonal attainment  of  the  individual  soul  may  also  have  con- 
tributed to  the  development  of  mysticism  within  the  church. 

2.  The  importance  which  Gnostics  attached  to  the  rites  of 
the  cult  as  a  means  of  insuring  divine  wisdom  necessary  to 
salvation  is  reflected  in  orthodox  circles,  where  there  was  an 
increasing  disposition  all  through  the  second  and  third  cen- 
turies to  emphasize  the  sacramental  significance  of  rites. 
Gnostic  influence  may  have  tended  to  enrich  the  liturgy, 
especially  in  the  realm  of  hymnology,  for  the  Gnostics  were 
pre-eminently  the  hymn-writers  of  their  day. 

3.  In  resisting  Gnostic  Christology  the  Christians  of  post- 
apostoUc  times  were  led  to  give  much  more  attention  than 
their  predecessors  in  the  ApostoHc  Age  had  done  to  collecting 
and  reporting  tradition  regarding  the  actual  earthly  Jesus. 
Thanks  to  this  incentive  a  considerable  body  of  gospel  tra- 
dition was  put  into  circulation  and  four  representative  docu- 
ments of  this  class  were  finally  given  first  place  in  the  new 
official  collection  of  Christian  writings.  While  the  orthodox 
thus  sought  to  dismiss  Gnostic  views,  it  was  nevertheless  true 
that  the  Gnostics  bequeathed  to  Christendom  a  set  of  christo- 
logical  problems  which  have  long  continued  to  trouble  theo- 
logians. 

4.  Another  very  significant  effect  of  the  Gnostics'  work 
was  the  development  of  an  interest  in  apostolic  authority. 
Here  they  set  the  example  by  discarding  the  authority  of  the 
Old  Testament  which  all  through  the  first  century  had  con- 
stituted the  Christians'  main  source  of  appeal.  On  the  other 
hand.  Gnostic  writers  appealed  to  apostolic  heroes  and  the 
writings  which  had  come  from  them,  and  not  infrequently 


314        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  Gnostics  showed  themselves  past-masters  at  the  art  of 
pseudonymous  Hterary  production.  This  situation  stimu- 
lated orthodoxy  to  discover  and  set  up  what  it  held  to  be  a 
genuine  apostoHc  authority  over  against  the  pseudo-authority 
of  the  heretics.  The  ultimate  outcome  of  this  process  was 
the  production  of  a  New  Testament  to  which  the  Old  was 
subordinated.  Incidentally  this  also  meant  the  rescu:"ng  of 
Paul  from  the  Gnostics.  Orthodox  writers  Hke  Justin  had 
avoided  reference  to  Paul,  who  was  the  mainstay  of  the 
heretics,  but  once  the  New  Testament  canon  was  established 
Paul  was  reinstated — at  least  in  form  if  not  in  spirit. 

5..  One  of  the  earliest  and  most  notable  effects  of  incipient 
Gnosticism  is  seen  in  the  tendency  to  establish  within  orthodox 
circles  a  stated  leadership  to  displace  the  older  functional  ideal 
of  trusting  to  the  guidance  of  pneumatic  individuals.  Even  as 
early  as  the  time  of  Ignatius  this  point  was  especially  stressed. 
The  false  teachers  claimed  for  themselves  full  pneumatic 
powers,  and  doubtless  in  the  eyes  of  the  populace  they  often 
successfully  justified  their  claim.  Hence  the  need  of  regularly 
appointed  officers  with  supreme  authority  to  dispose  of  false 
prophets.  The  result  was  a  claim  of  apostohc  authority  for 
ofl&cials  as  well  as  for  canonical  books. 

6.  In  a  word,  the  whole  trend  of  the  church's  development 
in  reaction  against  the  numerous  and  powerful  Gnostic  move- 
ments of  the  second  century  was  toward  Catholicism  with  its 
stated  officials,  its  fixed  New  Testament  canon,  its  uniform 
rule  of  faith,  and  its  universal  control.  Gnosticism,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  so  individuaHstic  in  its  emphasis  and  so 
diversified  that  it  failed  to  develop  the  unity  of  interest  and 
organization  necessary  to  withstand  successfully  the  resistance 
of  a  more  formally  united  orthodoxy. 

Literature. — For  introductory  purposes  see  the  excellent  articles 
on  "Gnosticism"  by  E.  F.  Scott  in  Hastings'  Encyclopaedia  of  Religion 
and  Ethics  and  by  W.  Bousset  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  nth  ed. 
More  detailed  treatment  will  be  found  in  W.  Bousset,  Hauptprobleme  der 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  315 

Gnosis  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1907);  E.  de  Faye, 
Gnostiques  et  gnosticisme  (Paris:  Leroux,  1913);  and  C.  W.  King,  The 
Gnostics  and  Their  Remains,  2d  ed.  (London:  Nutt,  1887).  For  collec- 
tions of  source  materials  see  G.  R.  S.  Mead,  Fragments  of  a  Faith 
Forgotten  (London  and  Benares:  Theosophical  Pub.  Soc,  1900);  A.  Hil- 
genfeld,  Ketzergeschichte  des  Urchristentums  (Leipzig:  Fues,  1884);  W. 
Schultz,  Dokumente  der  Gnosis  (Jena:  Dieterichs,  1910);  C.  Schmidt, 
Koptisch-gnostische  Schriften,  I,  Die  Pistis  Sophia  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs, 
1905).    Also  consult  "General  References,"  below,  pp.  324. 

X.      THE  ESTABLISHMENT   OF   THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 

The  emergence  of  the  Catholic  idea. — The  impetus  toward 
universality,  which  was  brought  prominently  into  the  fore- 
ground, and  in  no  small  measure  engendered,  by  the  Gnostic 
controversy,  finally  issued  in  the  complete  cathoUcizing  of 
orthodox  Christianity.  This  process  was  well  under  way 
before  the  end  of  the  second  century,  and  it  continued  to  gain 
momentum  during  the  succeeding  years.  By  the  close  of  the 
third  century  it  was  complete  in  all  essentials.  In  every  quar- 
ter of  the  Roman  Empire  communities  of  Christian  believers 
existed  under  an  established  form  of  organization;  from  time 
to  time  synods  met  to  settle  new  issues;  and  the  notion  of  a 
universal  Christendom,  at  least  ideally  self-consistent  in  all  its 
parts,  had  come  to  full  consciousness. 

Outstanding  leaders  of  the  period. — During  these  days 
of  crystalHzation  Christianity  in  various  parts  of  the  Empire 
enjoyed  the  leadership  of  a  number  of  notable  individuals.  In 
many  instances  their  writings  have  been  preserved  and  con- 
stitute important  sources  of  information  for  the  student. 
A  brief  notice  of  the  more  significant  leaders  will  be  a  con- 
venient way  of  approach  to  the  history  of  the  period. 

The  most  prominent  figure  in  the  West  is  that  of  Irenaeus, 
bishop  of  Lyons,  in  Gaul  during  the  closing  decades  of  the 
second  century.  His  only  extant  work  deals  with  the  heretics, 
whom  he  vigorously  opposes.  He  appeals  especially  to  the 
authority    of    apostoUc    tradition,    handed    down    through 


3i6        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

properly  appointed  successors  of  the  apostles  and  guarded  by 
the  true  church.  This  authority  is  twofold.  In  the  first  place 
the  written  Gospels  contain  the  pure  apostolic  teaching.  But 
in  addition  to  this  each  church  continues  to  be  under  leaders 
standing  in  direct  Hne  of  succession  from  the  apostles  who 
everywhere  appointed  bishops  in  the  churches.  And  to  make 
the  matter  more  sure  Irenaeus  cites  the  church  at  Rome  as 
the  supreme  authority.  With  this  church  all  others  must 
agree,  since  apostolic  tradition  is  necessarily  always  self- 
consistent.  Hence  all  those  who  hold  ''perverse  opinions" 
or  assemble  in  "unauthorized  meetings"  are  to  be  put  to 
confusion  by  appeaHng  to  ''the  very  great,  the  very  ancient 
and  universally  known  church  founded  and  organized  at 
Rome  by  the  two  most  glorious  apostles,  Peter  and  Paul; 
....  for  it  is  a  matter  of  necessity  that  every  church  should 
agree  with  this  church  on  account  of  its  pre-eminent  authority" 
(III,iii,  2). 

The  regular  bishops  at  Rome  during  this  general  period 
were  not  men  of  great  hterary  activity.  The  most  proHfic 
Roman  writer  was  Hippolytus,  who  flourished  in  the  first 
quarter  of  the  third  century.  He  was  a  prominent  presbyter 
and  later  became  a  rival  leader  beside  the  regular  bishop, 
whom  Hippolytus  accused  of  laxity  in  deahng  with  heretics 
and  sinners.  In  variety  and  extent  his  literary  activities 
rivaled  those  of  his  younger  Eastern  contemporary,  Origen, 
but  only  a  relatively  small  part  of  Hippolytus'  writings  has 
been  preserved.  Among  these  is  a  Refutation  of  All  Heresies. 
This  gives  ample  evidence  that  he  was  a  champion  of  the 
catholicizing  principle,  notwithstanding  his  break  with  the 
contemporary  Roman  bishop. 

In  the  province  of  Africa  Tertullian  and  Cyprian  were 
the  most  noted  leaders.  The  prohfic  literary  work  of  the 
former  was  done  in  the  early  years  of  the  third  century.  He 
covered  the  whole  range  of  Christian  apologetic,  defending 
the  new  religion  against  persecution,  attacking  heretics,  and 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  317 

refuting  both  heathen  and  Jewish  critics.  He  also  produced 
a  number  of  treatises  of  a  practical  sort,  and  was  really  the 
creator  of  an  ecclesiastical  Hterature  in  the  Latin  tongue. 
Although  he  joined  the  heretical  movement  known  as  Mon tan- 
ism,  he  was  in  essential  agreement  with  Irenaeus  in  upholding 
the  authority  of  apostolic  tradition  preserved  within  the 
ecclesiastical  organism.  Moreover,  he  was  the  first  Westerner 
to  make  any  substantial  contribution  toward  the  elaboration 
of  a  Christian  theology.  His  guiding  principle,  however,  was 
not  Hellenistic  philosophical  speculation,  but  juristic  notions 
which  he  inherited  from  his  training  as  a  Roman  advocate. 

Cyprian  was  converted  to  Christianity  shortly  before  the 
middle  of  the  third  century,  and  within  a  few  years  became 
bishop  of  the  Carthaginian  church,  which  he  continued  to  guide 
until  his  martyrdom  in  258  a.d.  He  had  more  of  the  instincts 
of  a  pastor  than  of  a  theologian,  and  wrote  large  numbers  of 
letters  dealing  with  various  contemporary  problems.  Yet 
he  also  was  the  author  of  apologetic  and  doctrinal  treatises,  as 
well  as  works  dealing  with  questions  of  conduct  and  church 
poHty.  Especially  important  in  the  present  connection  is 
his  De  unitate  ecclesiae.  Against  the  heretics  he  maintained 
that  there  was  no  possibihty  of  salvation  outside  the  estab- 
lished ecclesiastical  organization — ^"he  who  has  not  the  church 
for  a  mother  cannot  have  God  for  a  father"  (chap.  6).  And 
the  church  is  one,  since  Christ  founded  it  on  Peter.  Augustine 
has  very  fittingly  termed  Cyprian  catholicum  episcopum,  catholi- 
cum  martyrem  {De  bapt.,  Ill,  iii,  5). 

While  the  leaders  in  the  West  were  incorporating  into 
Christianity  the  Roman  genius  for  organized  government, 
the  leaders  in  the  East  were  working  out  a  system  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine  in  conformity  with  the  philosophical  genius  of 
the  Greeks .  The  misnamed  ' '  catechical  school ' '  of  Alexandria 
— -a  kind  of  Christian  university — had  arisen  during  the  second 
century.  Here  Christian  teachers  were  famiharizing  them- 
selves with  the  whole  range  of  Greek  science  and  seeking  to 


3i8        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

employ  this  knowledge  in  the  service  of  their  religion.  The 
school  existed  beside  others  of  a  similar  character — some 
Gnostic,  some  pagan — for  which  Alexandria  was  noted,  but 
of  its  beginnings  absolutely  nothing  is  known.  It  first  comes 
to  Hght  about  i8o  a.d.  with  Pantaenus  at  its  head.  Toward 
the  close  of  the  century  he  was  succeeded  by  Clement,  whose 
writings  are  the  earhest  extant  literary  products  of  the  school. 
In  expounding  Christianity  as  a  world-rehgion  Clement  em- 
ploys the  notion  of  the  Logos,  but  in  the  use  of  this  conception 
he  is  not  hampered  as  the  earlier  apologists  were  by  slavish 
attachment  to  the  cultus.  He  is  thoroughly  ecclesiastical,  in 
that  he  adheres  to  the  notion  of  a  prescribed  rule  of  faith,  but 
he  would  universahze  Christianity  by  an  individuahstic 
rather  than  an  organic  process.  The  Logos-experience  is 
available  for  every  member  of  the  human  race,  which  has  been 
created,  educated,  and  redeemed  by  the  Logos.  Moreover, 
knowledge  (gnosis)  is  the  key  to  salvation  and  the  true 
Christian  is  the  true  "Gnostic."  But  Clement's  gnosis  is  of 
the  Greek  type,  in  contrast  with  the  oriental  sacramental 
conception  current  among  the  Gnostics.  Notwithstanding 
Clement's  interest  in  the  field  of  Greek  science,  he  did  not 
really  work  out  any  systematic  scheme  of  Christian  doctrine. 
This  was  done  first  by  Origen.  He  was  Clement's  suc- 
cessor as  head  of  the  school  of  Alexandria,  but  the  latter  part 
of  his  Hfe  was  spent  at  Caesarea,  where  he  conducted  an 
independent  school.  He  produced  a  vast  number  of  works, 
several  of  which  are  still  extant.  These  include  hortatory, 
apologetic,  textual,  exegetical,  and  doctrinal  treatises.  To 
this  last  class  belongs  his  De  principiis  in  which  he  works  out 
the  first  real  system  of  Christian  doctrine  ever  written. 
Though  Origen  was  an  ecclesiastic,  in  that  he  beheved  that  the 
church  suppHes  to  men  the  correct  rule  of  faith,  yet  in  his 
own  thinking  it  was  neither  the  authority  of  the  cultus  nor 
the  authority  of  a  canon  of  Scripture  which  constituted  his 
ultimate  norm.     To  be  sure,  he  made  the  Logos  revelation 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  319 

the  ground  of  the  Christian's  knowledge,  but  it  was  by  means 
of  philosophy — that  is,  by  the  use  of  the  speculative  rational 
faculty — that  Origen  really  sought  to  discover  the  true  revela- 
tion of  the  Logos,  in  the  light  of  which  he  interpreted  the  his- 
tory and  content  of  Christianity. 

Internal  conflicts. — The  main  trend  of  Christianity  during 
the  closing  years  of  the  second,  and  throughout  the  third, 
century  was  toward  universality  and  uniformity.  Yet  there 
were  still  within  the  movement  many  differences  of  opinion 
and  practice.  The  consequence  was  a  series  of  internal 
conflicts  which  marked  the  growth  of  the  church  in  this 
period. 

1.  At  the  very  beginning  of  the  period  the  Easter  con- 
troversy arose.  It  concerned  a  difference  of  practice  between 
the  Roman  church  and  the  churches  of  Asia.  The  latter, 
tracing  their  authority  to  the  apostle  John,  celebrated  Easter 
on  the  fourteenth  of  the  month  Nisan  regardless  of  the  day 
of  the  week.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Roman  church  insisted 
that  the  celebration  ought  always  to  take  place  on  a  Sunday. 
This  difference  of  opinion  brought  on  a  sharp  debate  which  for 
a  time  threatened  to  rend  the  East  from  the  West. 

2.  A  second  question  concerned  the  treatment  of  those 
who  had  committed  some  unusual  sin,  especially  those  who 
denied  the  faith  in  times  of  persecution.  From  an  early 
date  murder,  adultery,  and  lapsing  had  generally  been  regarded 
as  unpardonable  sins.  But  in  the  course  of  time  a  more, 
generous  attitude  was  assumed,  especially  toward  the  lapsed 
and  some  bishops  reinstated  these  persons  after  a  proper  form 
of  repentance  had  been  secured.  But  the  matter  caused 
much  sharp  controversy,  men  like  Hippolytus  in  one  genera- 
tion and  Cyprian  in  the  next  holding  opposite  views  on  the 
question.' 

3.  Christological  disputes  also  broke  out  anew.  The  main 
line  of  orthodox  speculation  employed  the  Logos-idea  as  a 
means  of  preserving  monotheism  while  still  regarding  Jesus 


320        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION  * 

as  God.  A  different  explanation  was  offered  by  the  so-called 
Monarchians,  who  did  not  make  use  of  the  Logos.  The 
"dynamic"  Monarchians  affirmed  that  Jesus  was  possessed 
by  an  impersonal  power  {8vvaiJ,Ls)  from  God.  But  the 
''modalistic"  Monarchians  personahzed  the  divine  insert, 
and  found  the  difference  between  the  Father  and  the  Son  in 
the  mode  of  manifestation  rather  than  in  the  character  of 
the  personality. 

4.  Two  new  and  influential  heresies  came  into  prominence 
during  the  third  century.  These  were  Montanism  and 
Manicheism.  The  former  had  arisen  in  Phrygia  in  the  sixth 
decade  of  the  second  century,  and  fifty  years  later  it  was 
powerful  enough  to  draw  to  itself  Tertullian  in  North  Africa. 
The  Montanists  beheved  in  the  continued  activity  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  among  believers,  they  retained  vivid  eschatological 
expectations,  and  they  insisted  upon  rigid  ethical  require- 
ments, not  alone  for  the  clergy,  but  for  all  Christians.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  church  in  general  had  come  to  look  askance  at 
pneumatic  enthusiasm  to  which  false  teachers  so  readily  laid 
claim ;  the  realistic  eschatological  hope  was  growing  dim  with 
the  passing  of  the  years  and  with  the  betterment  of  the  Chris- 
tians' lot  in  the  present  world ;  and  there  had  arisen  a  double 
standard  of  morahty,  a  select  class  of  persons  being  expected 
to  attain  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection  while  the  masses  lived 
on  a  lower  level.  The  Montanists'  efforts  to  restore  the 
simplicity  of  earlier  days  met  with  a  measure  of  success,  but 
the  movement  was  essentially  anachronistic  and  so  destined 
to  failure. 

Manicheism,  in  some  respects  closely  akin  to  Gnosticism, 
was  largely  a  composite  of  Persian  and  Babylonian  ideas.  In 
"eality  it  was  a  revival  of  oriental  speculation  thinly  overlaid 
mth.  a  veneer  of  Christian  ideas;  nevertheless  it  became  an 
important  rival  of  Christianity,  especially  in  Persia. 

5.  One  other  debated  question  related  to  the  vaUdity  of 
baptism    when    performed    by    heretics.     This^  controversy 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  321 

did  not  continue  long,  but  it  was  troublesome  for  a  time. 
At  Rome  the  bishop  Stephen  (254-57)  pronounced  the  sacra- 
ment valid  in  itself  and  received  the  converted  heretic  without 
repeating  the  rite.  But  Cyprian  in  Africa  contended  with 
equal  vigor  for  the  opposite  course  of  procedure.  The 
former  opinion  prevailed,  although  the  latter  found  new 
champions  in  the  Donatist  movement  of  the  next  century. 

Contemporary  relationships. — During  these  days  of  Catho- 
hc  crystallization  the  relations  between  the  church  and  the 
contemporary  life  of  the  Graeco-Roman  world  became 
increasingly  intimate.  Converts  were  no  longer  drawn  mainly 
from  one  class  of  society,  as  in  apostolic  and  early  post- 
apostolic  times.  Representatives  from  all  classes  were  now  to 
be  found  within  the  Christian  communities.  An  educated 
pagan  rhetorician  like  Cyprian  and  a  Roman  jurist  like 
TertuUian  each  brought  his  own  distinctive  personality  and 
heritage  into  the  service  of  the  new  religion.  In  a  less  con- 
spicuous way  the  same  thing  was  going  on  all  over  the  Medi- 
terranean world,  and  thus  Christianity  began  to  win  a  real 
place  for  itself  among  the  recognized  social  and  reUgious 
forces  of  the  age. 

This  growth  inevitably  led  to  further  conflicts  with  the 
state  authorities.  For  years  Christians  had  been  objects 
of  sporadic  hostile  action  on  the  part  of  an  emperor  or  a 
governor,  but  Decius  (249-51)  undertook  a  more  systematic 
suppression  of  Christianity  as  a  means  of  restoring  the  old 
religions  of  the  state.  This  new  form  of  persecution,  recurring 
especially  under  Valerian  (253-60),  Diocletian  (284-305),  and 
Galerius  (305-11),  was  of  much  importance  for  the  final 
estabHshment  of  the  Catholic  church  as  a  recognized  institu- 
tion in  the  Roman  state. 

Attempts  to  revive  the  old  pagan  faiths  and  the  growth  of 
rival  oriental  cults  called  forth  from  Christians  new  attacks 
upon  contemporary  paganism.  Striking  examples  of  this 
apologetic   are   still   extant    in    the    writings    of    Arnobius, 


322         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Lactantius,  and  Firmicus  Maternus.  At  the  same  time  the 
Christian  cult  was  developing  sides  of  its  own  life  which 
mediated  more  fully  to  its  votaries  the  rehgious  values  attach- 
ing to  rival  faiths,  and  this  process  of  adaptation  ultimately 
proved  to  be  one  of  Christianity's  strongest  anti-pagan 
weapons. 

Among  the  educated,  neo-Platonism  was  also  a  trouble- 
some enemy  of  Christianity  in  the  third  century.  Porphyry 
in  particular  was  a  bitter  foe  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  wrote 
a  work  of  fifteen  books  Against  the  Christians.  But  also  in 
this  crisis  Christian  leaders  presently  arose  who  proved 
equal  to  the  task  of  incorporating  a  large  measure  of  neo- 
Platonic  thinking  into  the  church. 

Triumph  of  the  monarchical  ideal. — -Christianity  finally 
triumphed  over  all  rivals  and  became  the  one  religion  of  the 
Roman  state.  Ultimately  its  chief  ofhcial,  the  bishop  of 
Rome,  was  recognized  as  the  supreme  authority,  not  alone  in 
matters  of  religion,  but  also  in  the  realm  of  pohtics  and  science. 

Many  things  contributed  toward  this  result.  Among  these 
contributory  factors  were  rich  inheritances  taken  over  from 
Judaism,  the  personal  work  of  Jesus  and  the  early  missionary 
preachers,  the  new  phases  of  Christian  thinking  or  practice 
which  were  worked  out  as  a  result  of  contact  with  other  cults 
already  popular  in  the  pagan  world,  the  adoption  of  oriental 
speculations  and  Greek  philosophies,  and  the  ever-repeated 
personal  rehgious  experiences  and  energies  of  the  numerous 
and  able  leaders  who  from  time  to  time  espoused  the  new 
cause.  Moreover,  all  these  factors  were  mingled  within  an 
enlarging  social  organism  wide  enough  in  its  range  to  include 
many  types  of  personaHty  and  opinion,  and  yet  distinctive 
enough  in  its  moral  and  rehgious  ideals  to  ehcit  the  loyal 
support  of  its  members.  But  as  a  force  in  the  Roman  state 
Christianity  attained  its  final  success  not  immed'ately  through 
its  rehgious  and  moral  ideahsm,  nor  yet  through  its  power 
as  a  philosophy  of  rehgion.     Its  triumph  was  ultimately  due 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  323 

to  its  momentum  as  an  organized  worshiping  community,  a 
formal  cult  with  a  strong  monarchical  organization. 

The  monarchical  principle  was  the  dominant  social  ideal  of 
that  age.  Ever  since  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great  this 
principle  had  been  in  the  ascendancy.  The  democratic 
Greek  city-state  had  given  way  before  the  world-dominion  of  a 
single  overlord  in  the  person  of  Alexander.  The  same  ideal 
was  maintained  by  his  successors  and  their  descendants; 
and  finally  republican  Rome  yielded  to  the  monarchical 
impulse,  even  going  so  far  as  to  deify  the  emperor.  When 
Christianity  adopted  the  monarchical  principle,  establishing 
a  single  religious  empire  throughout  the  Mediterranean 
world,  it  caught  the  spirit  of  the  times  more  truly  than  did 
any  of  its  contemporary  reUgions.  Mithraism  was  its  nearest 
rival  in  this  respect,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  was  its  most 
serious  competitor,  but  the  mithraic  monarchy  remained 
primarily  an  affair  of  the  gods,  while  Christianity  had  both 
a  heavenly  monarchical  ideal  and  its  earthly  counterpart  in 
a  monarchically  organized  church.  Even  in  the  second 
century,  when  Christianity  began  to  present  a  united  front  to 
the  world,  it  was  already  on  the  way  to  become  the  state 
church  of  the  Roman  Empire.  And  in  succeeding  generations 
its  leaders  proved  capable  of  grasping  more  firmly  the  spirit 
of  the  age  and  turning  it  to  account  in  the  interests  of  the 
new  movement.  Whether  they  themselves  were  ever  fully 
conscious  of  the  ultimate  possibihties  of  their  action  is  very 
doubtful,  but  their  work  resulted  in  giving  organized  Chris- 
tianity so  strong  a  grip  upon  Roman  society  that  on  June  13, 
313  A.D.,  the  emperors  Constantine  and  Licinius  fully  legaHzed 
the  new  cult.  Under  Theodosius  the  Great  it  was  elevated 
above  all  rivals  and  became  the  only  legal  rehgion  of  the 
Empire  (392  a.d.).  Thus  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  finally 
established  upon  earth — though  in  a  very  different  manner 
from  that  in  which  the  Christians  of  earlier  times  had  expected 
its  estabhshment. 


324        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Literature. — R.  Rainy,  The  Ancient  Catholic  Church  (New  York: 
Scribner,  1902);  P.  Battifol,  UEglise  naissante  et  le  catholicisme  (Paris: 
Lecoffre,  1909;  English  translation,  Primitive  Catholicism  [London: 
Longmans,  191 1]).     See  also  "General  References"  below. 

General  references. — In  addition  to  literature  already  cited  in  con- 
nection with  special  topics,  a  few  works  of  a  more  general  character 
should  be  mentioned. 

Regarding  the  documents  from  which  historical  information  is  to  be 
derived  see,  in  addition  to  works  on  New  Testament  introduction  referred 
to  above  (p.  199),  C.  T.  Cruttwell,  A  Literary  History  of  Early  Christianity, 
including  the  Fathers  and  the  Chief  Heretical  Writers  of  the  Ante-Nicene 
Period,  2  vols.  (New  York:  Scribner,  1893);  A.  Harnack,  Geschichte 
der  altchristlichen  Litter atur  bis  Eusehius,  3  Bde.  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs, 
1 893-1 904);  G.  Kriiger,  Geschichte  der  altchristlichen  Litteratur  in  den 
ersten  drei  Jahrhunderten,  2.  AuH.  (Fveihurg:  Mohr,  1898;  English  trans- 
lation, History  of  Early  Christian  Literature  in  the  First  Three  Centuries 
[New  York:  Macmillan,  1897]);  H.  Jordan,  Geschichte  der  altchristlichen 
Litteratur  (Leipzig:  Quelle  und  Meyer,  1911);  O.  Stahlin,  "Christliche 
Schrif tsteller "  in  W.  von  Christ's  Geschichte  der  griechischen  Litteratur, 
5.  Aufl.  (Miinchen:  Beck,  1913),  II,  ii,  907-1146;  M.  Schanz,  Geschichte 
der  romischen  Litteratur,  2.  Aufl.  (Miinchen:  Beck,  1905),  III,  240-495; 
O.  Bardenhewer,  Geschichte  der  altchristlichen  Litteratur  (Freiburg: 
Herder,  1902  ff.),  and  Patrologie,  3.  Aufl.  (Freiburg:  Herder,  1910; 
English  translation,  Patrology  [St.  Louis:  Herder,  1908]).  On  the  New 
Testament  Apocrypha  see  especially  E.  Hennecke,  Handbuch  zu  den 
neutestamentlichen  Apokryphen  and  Neutestamentliche  Apokryphen  in 
deutscher  Uebersetzung  und  mil  Einleitungen  (Tiibingen:   Mohr,  1904). 

The  critical  editions  of  the  original  texts  of  both  Greek  and  Latin 
writers  are  usually  listed  in  the  above-mentioned  works  on  the  literature. 
For  the  New  Testament  see  above,  p.  209.  For  extra-canonical  writings 
the  most  complete  series  is  that  of  Migne,  Patrologia  Graeca  (Paris, 
1857  ff.)  and  Patrologia  Latina  (Paris,  1844  ff.).  A  more  critical  edition 
of  Greek  authors  is  in  process  of  publication  in  Die  griechischen  christ- 
lichen  Schrif  tsteller  der  ersten  drei  Jahrhunderte,  herausgegeben  von 
der  Kirchenvater-Commission  der  koniglich-preussischen  Akademie  der 
Wissenschaften  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1897  Q..).  The  Corpus  scriptorum 
ecclesiasticorum  latinorum  of  the  Vienna  Academy  (1866  flf.)  performs  a 
similar  service  for  Latin  authors.  In  some  instances  convenient  editions 
of  particular  writers  are  available,  e.g.,  J.  B.  Lightfoot  and  J.  R.  Har- 
mer,  The  Apostolic  Fathers  (London:  Macmillan,  1898);  K.  Lake, 
The  Apostolic  Fathers  [Loeb  Classical  Library],  2  vols.  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1913);   E.  Preuschen,  Antilegomena:    Die  Reste  der  ausser- 


THE  STUDY  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  325 

kanonischen  Evangelien  und  iirchrisllichen  Ueherlicferimgen,  2.  Aufl. 
(Giessen:  Topelmann,  1905);  E.  J.  Goodspeed,  Die  dltesten  Apologeten 
(Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1914). 

English  translations  are  printed  with  the  texts  in  the  editions  of 
Lightfoot-Harmer  and  Lake  (also  a  German  translation  in  Preuschen). 
The  most  complete  set  of  English  translations  is  that  of  the  Ante-Nicene 
Fathers  (New  York:  Scribner,  1885  ff.).  Selections  are  printed  in  J.  C. 
Ayer,  A  Source-Book  for  Ancient  Church  History  from  the  Apostolic  Age  to 
the  Close  of  the  Conciliary  Period  (New  York:  Scribner,  1913). 

For  archaeological  sources  of  information  see  W.  Lowrie,  Monu- 
ments of  the  Early  Church  (New  York:   Macmillan,  1906). 

The  general  history  of  the  period  is  covered  by  all  the  standard  works 
on  church  history,  of  which  the  more  recent  and  serviceable  are  A.  H. 
Newman,  A  Manual  of  Church  History,  2  vols.  (Philadelphia:  American 
Baptist  Pub.  Soc,  1899-1902);  K.  Miiller,  Kirchengeschichte,  2  Bde. 
(Freiburg:  Mohr,  1892-1902);  W.  Moller,  Lchrbuch  der  Kirchenge- 
schichte, 3  Bde.,  3.  Aufl.,  von  H.  von  Schubert  and  G.  Kawerau  (Tu- 
bingen: Mohr,  1907;  English  translation.  History  of  the  Christian  Church, 
3  vols.  [New  York:  Macmillan,  1892  ff.]);  G.  Kriiger,  Handbuch  der 
Kirchengeschichte  fUr  Studierende,  Erster  Teil,  Das  Altertum,  von  E. 
Preuschen  und  G.  Kriiger  (Tiibingen:   Mohr,  191 1). 

Works  especially  worthy  of  note  on  the  early  period  alone  are  A. 
Harnack,  Mission  und  Ausbreitung  des  Christentums  in  den  ersten  drei 
Jahrhunderten,  2  Bde.,  2.  Aufl.  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1906;  English  trans- 
lation. The  Mission  and  Expansion  of  Christianity  in  the  First  Three 
Centuries,  2  vols.,  2d  ed.  [New  York:  Putnam,  1908]);  O.  Pfleiderer, 
Das  Urchristentum,  seine  Schriften  und  Lehren,  2  Bde.,  2.  Aufl.  (Berlin: . 
Reimer,  1902;  English  translation.  Primitive  Christianity,  4  vols.  [New 
York:  Putnam,  1906-11]) ;  H.  Achelis,  Das  Christentum  in  den  ersten  drei 
Jahrhunderten,  2  Bde.  (Leipzig:  Quelle  und  Meyer,  1912);  L.  Duchesne, 
Histoire  ancienne  de  Veglise  3  Tomes  (Paris:  Fontemoing,  1906-11; 
English  translation,  Early  History  of  the  Christian  Church  from  Its 
Foundation  to  the  End  of  the  Third  Century,  2  vols.  [New  York:  Longmans, 
1909-13]) .  F.  Legge,  Forerunners  and  Rivals  of  Christianity  (Cambridge : 
University  Press,  1915);  J.  E.  Carpenter,  Phases  of  Early  Christianity 
(New  York:    Putnam,  19 16). 

There  are  numerous  special  treatises  on  the  persecutions.  These 
are  listed  and  commented  upon  in  L.  H.  Canfield,  The  Early  Persecutions 
of  the  Christians  (New  York:  Longmans,  1913),  pp.  210-15.  Canfield's 
book  deals  only  with  the  earlier  persecutions.  For  the  whole  period  of 
persecution  see  especially  A.  Linsenmayer,  Die  Bekdmpfung  des  Christen- 
tums durch  den  romische  Staat  bis  zum  Tode  des  Kaisers  Julian  (Miinchen; 


326        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Lentner,  1905)5  cf.  also  H.  B.  Workman,  Persecution  in  the  Early  Church 
(London:  Kelly,  1906);  E.  G.  Hardy,  Studies  in  Roman  History,  First 
Series  (London:  Allen,  1906),  pp.  1-161,  being  a  reprint  of  the  same 
author's  valuable  book  on  Christianity  and  the  Roman  Government;  A. 
Bigelmair,  Die  Beteiligung  der  Christen  am  ojffentlichen  Lehen  in  vorcon- 
stantinischer  Zeit  (Miinchen:  Lentner,  1902). 

On  organization  and  ritual  see  E.  Hatch,  The  Organization  of  the 
Early  Christian  Churches  (New  York:  Longmans,  1895);  W.  Lowrie, 
The  Church  and  Its  Organization  (New  York:  Longmans,  1904);  A, 
Harnack,  Enstehung  und  Entwickehmg  der  Kirchenverfassung  und  des 
Kirchenrechts  in  den  zwei  ersten  Jahrhunderten  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1910; 
English  translation,  The  Constitution  and  Law  of  the  Church  in  the  First 
Two  Centuries  [New  York:  Putnam,  1910]);  P.  Glaue,  Die  Vorlesung 
heiliger  Schriften  im  Gottesdienste,  I.  Teil,  Bis  zur  Entstehung  der  alt- 
katholischen  Kirche  (Berlin:  Duncker,  1907);  A.  Harnack,  Ueher  den 
privaten  Gehrauch  der  heiligen  Schriften  in  der  alten  Kirche  (Leipzig: 
Hinrichs,  191 2;  English  translation,  Bible  Reading  in  the  Early  Church 
[New  York:  Putnam,  191 2]);  H.  Monnier,  La  Notion  de  I'apostolat  des 
origines  a Irenee  (Paris:  Leroux,  1903);  J.  Reville,  Les  Origines  de  T episco- 
pal (Paris:  Leroux,  1894),  a.nd  Les  Origines  de  I' eucharisiie  (Paris:  Leroux, 
1908);  E.  Baumgartner,  Eucharistie  und  Agape  im  Urchristentum 
(Solothurn:  Buch- und  Kunstdruckerie,  1909);  Y-DihelxMS,  Das  Abend- 
mahl.  Eine  Untersuchung  iiber  die  Anfdnge  der  christlichen  Religion 
(Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  191 1);  H.  Windisch,  Taufe  und  Siinde  im  dltesten 
Christentum  bis  auf  Origenes  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1908);  W.  Heitmiiller, 
"Im  Namen  Jesu."  Eine  sprach-  und  religionsgeschichtliche  Unter- 
suchung zum  Neuen  Testament,  speziell  zur  altchristlichen  Taufe  (Gottin- 
gen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1903),  and  Taufe  und  Abendmahl  im 
Urchristentum  (Tiibingen:  Mohr,  1911);  M.  Goguel,  L'Eucharistie  des 
origines  a  Justin  Martyr  (Paris:  Fischbacher,  1910);  E.  Lucius,  Die 
Anfdnge  der  Heiligenkults  in  der  christlichen  Kirche,  herausgegeben  von 
G.  Anrich  (Tubingen:   Mohr,  1904). 

Of  the  books  dealing  with  Christian  doctrine  in  this  period  attention 
may  be  called  especially  to  A.  Harnack,  Lehrbuch  der  Dogmengeschichte, 
3  Bde.,  4.  Aufl.  (Tiibingen:  Mohr,  1909;  English  translation,  History  of 
Dogma,  7  vols.  [Boston:  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  1896-1900]);  E.  Troeltsch, 
Die  Soziallehren  der  christlichen  Kirchen  und  Gruppen  (Tubingen :  Mohr, 
1912),  pp.  1-178;  W.  Bousset,  Kyrios  Christos.  Geschichte  des  Christus- 
glaubens  von  den  Anfdngen  des  Christentums  bis  Irenaeus  (Gottingen: 
Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1913). 


VI.  THE  DEVELOPMENT  AND  MEANING  OF  THE 
CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

By  FRANCIS  ALBERT  CHRISTIE 

Professor  of  Church  History,  Meadville  Theological  Seminary, 
Meadville,  Pennsylvania 


ANALYSIS 


Introduction:  The  Problem  of  Understanding  Catholic  Chris- 
tianity.— Protestant  prejudice  and  historical  interpretation. — The 
development  of  primitive  Christianity  into  Catholicism  .        .     329-330 

1.  The  Church  System  of  Thought. — ^The  development  of  ecclesi- 
astically approved  doctrines. — The  main  doctrinal  problems    .  330~333 

2.  The  Strengthening  of  Church  Organization. — ^The  effect  of 
persecutions  on  church  polity. — The  organization  of  the  clergy  .     333-334 

3.  Union  with  the  World. — The  demand  for  political  unity. — The 
pressure  for  official  doctrinal  unity. — Some  results  of  this  political 
unification 334-337 

4.  The  Ideals  of  Monasticism. — Why  did  monasticism  flourish? 

5.  The  Development  and  Significance  of  the  Greek  Catholic  Church.     337-338 
— ^The  age  of  Justinian. — The  essentials  of  Eastern  orthodoxy    .        .     338-339 

6.  The  Problem  for  Study  in  the  History  of  Western  Catholicism. — 
The  meaning  of  religion  in  Western  Catholicism. — The  study  of  the 
growth  of  Western  Catholicism 339-340 

7.  Western    Characteristics. — How    does    Western    Catholicism 

differ  from  Eastern  ? — Great  personalities  in  the  West     .        .        .     340-342 

8.  Monasticism  in  the  West. — Organization  and  activities. — Influ- 
ence of  monasticism 342-344 

9.  The  Mission  of  the  Papacy. — The  ideal  of  papal  policy. — 
The  papal  ideal  and  the  Kingdom  of  God. — Church  and  state. — The 

place  of  the  church  in  a  feudal  system 344-348 

10.  Mediaeval  Theology. — Its  relation  to  the  life  of  the  age         .     348-350 

11.  The  Decline  of  the  Papacy. — The  rise  of  national  loyalties. — 
The   development   of   lay   religion. — Mysticism. — The    revival    of 

classic  culture 350-3S3 

12.  Suggestions  to  Students 353~355 


VI.  THE  DEVELOPMENT  AND  MEANING  OF  THE 
CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

introduction:    the  problem  of  understanding  catholic 
christianity 

Protestant  prejudice  and  historical  interpretation. — The 

idea  of  Luther  most  effective  with  the  common  people  of  his 
time  was  his  identification  of  the  Pope  and  Antichrist.  The 
Magdeburg  Centuries,  the  first  church  history  written  by  a 
Protestant,  presented  the  story  of  Catholic  ages  as  a  warfare 
of  the  papacy  with  gospel  truth.  The  religious  wars  following 
the  Reformation  developed  this  bitter  hostility  to  Catholicism 
into  a  fixed  and  systematic  prejudice  which  obstructs  the 
effort  of  a  Protestant  student  of  history.  Since  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  however,  the  spirit  of  science  has 
been  winning  control  of  the  Protestant  mind,  and  the  spirit  of 
science  requires  an  ascetic  suppression  of  prejudgments  and 
prejudices.  Modern  Protestantism  has  the  glory  of  having 
boldly  encountered  the  peril  of  a  severely  scientific  revision 
of  the  very  biblical  history  to  which  it  appealed  as  its  own 
revealed  foundation.  A  student  should  feel  that  the  honor  of 
this  truth-loving  modern  Protestantism  is  at  stake  when  he 
essays  to  understand  the  mission  of  the  Catholic  church  in 
history,  to  see  its  growth  as  historically  inevitable,  and  to 
appreciate  its  service  in  the  civilizing  of  man. 

Without  sympathy  no  one  can  truly  comprehend  a  man's 
career  or  an  epoch  of  human  life,  and  the  students  of  the 
present  generation  have  an  interest  which  gives  them  the 
sympathy  interpretive  of  Catholic  history.  The  modern 
devotion  to  the  ideal  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  lends  meaning 
to  the  contrast  of  the  church  and  the  world.  In  that  contrast 
"world"  means  an  organization  of  life  which,  in  spite  of  the 

329 


33©        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

ideal  elements  contained  in  it,  is  dominated  essentially  by  pri- 
mary human  instincts  for  possession  and  power.  Christianity 
is  a  "passionate  unworldliness "  seeking  to  elevate  and  trans- 
form the  world  into  the  likeness  of  that  order  where  every 
spirit  mirrors  the  absoluteness  of  love  beheld  in  God.  This 
the  student  easily  recognizes  as  the  dynamic  ideal  which 
found  institutional  form  in  the  historic  Catholic  church.  His 
.attention  is  immediately  engaged  by  the  problem  of  explain- 
ing by  historical  conditions  the  development  of  a  church  which 
could  serve  this  Christian  social  ideal. 

The  development  of  primitive  Christianity  into  Catholicism. 
— The  first  Christians  were  a  democratic  brotherhood  imbued 
with  a  passionate  desire  to  live  the  life  that  Jesus  would 
approve.  The  church  when  it  came  was  a  strongly  governed 
sacerdotal  institution.  The  early  informal  and  spontaneous 
effusions  of  worship  became  the  world's  most  impressive 
uniform  ritual.  The  dogmas  of  faith,  hope,  and  love  became 
the  philosophical  dogmas  of  Trinity  and  Incarnation.  The 
religion  that  was  persecuted  became  an  organized  force  which 
the  state  needed  to  adopt  as  the  spiritual  support  of  its 
power.  Bishops  of  great  centers  aspired  to  universal  domina- 
tion, and,  in  the  end,  the  Bishop  of  Rome  became  the  Pope 
of  Western  Europe.  The  purpose  of  the  student  is  to  win  an 
intelligible  account  of  the  process  by  which  these  later  con- 
ditions emerged  from  the  simple  beginnings. 

I.      THE   CHURCH   SYSTEM   OF   THOUGHT 

The  development  of  ecclesiastically  approved  doctrine. — 

The  church,  as  a  self-conscious,  authoritative  institution, 
began  to  take  form  at  the  end  of  the  second  century.  React- 
ing against  the  confusing  effects  of  Gnostic,  Marcionist,  Mon- 
tanist  versions  of  Christianity,  church  leaders  emphasized 
the  controlling  value  of  the  original  missionary  (apostolic) 
teaching  as  exhibited  in  the  baptismal  affirmations  (the 
earliest  form  of  the  Apostles'  Creed),  the  apostolic  Hterature 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH        33 1 

(the  New  Testament),  and  a  public  tradition  of  truth  for  the 
preservation  of  which  the  bishop  received  a  special  gift 
{charisma  veritatis)  on  his  succession  to  office.  Under  the 
restraint  of  these  standards  there  was  a  rapid  development 
of  such  a  system  of  thought  as  could  proclaim  monotheism, 
give  absolute  validity  to  Christ's  gospel  of  love  and  to  the 
hope  of  eternal  life  through  Christ,  and  also  satisfy  perplexity 
concerning  the  problem  of  evil.  The  apologists  had  already 
claimed  absolute  validity  for  Christ's  teaching  by  asserting 
that  the  Logos  spoke  in  him.  The  church  system  grew  by  an 
elaboration  of  the  Logos  doctrine  on  the  part  of  Irenaeus, 
Tertullian,  and  Hippolytus  in  the  West  and  of  Clement  and 
Origen  in  the  East. 

At  first  the  majority  of  believers  were  averse  to  this 
philosophy  of  religion,^  but  such  a  philosophy  was  needed  to 
win  and  hold  cultivated  minds,  especially  in  view  of  a  rival 
growth  of  pagan  thought  in  the  spiritually  impressive  system 
of  neo-Platonism.  The  mass  of  believers  were  content  with 
simpler  views.  For  some  it  was  enough  to  magnify  Jesus 
as  a  man  who  by  gift  of  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  became 
the  supreme  instance  of  human  salvation  (Dynamists, 
Adoptionists :  Theodotus,  Artemon,  Paul  of  Samosata).  A 
larger  number,  following  the  implication  of  the  term  Lord 
applied  to  Jesus  as  Lord  of  the  cult,  and  yet  wishing  to  be 
faithful  to  monotheism,  denied  any  humanity  in  Christ  save 
the  fleshly  form  and  defined  him  as  a  mode  of  manifestation  of 
the  one  only  God  (Modalism,  SabeUianism:  Noetus,  Praxeas, 
Roman  bishops,  Sabellius). 

The  main  doctrinal  problems. — ^These  simple  views  of 
limited  scope  might  satisfy  an  unreflecting  religious  reverence 
but  could  afford  no  answer  to  the  questions  which  haunted 
Greek  intelligences:  how  the  world  of  manifold  reahty  had 
its  origin  from  unitary  ground,  how  evil  could  arise  in  a  world 
divinely  originated  and  governed,  how  the  seeming  injustice 

'  Tertullian,  Against  Praxeas,  3;   Origen,  Commentary  on  John,  II,  sec.  3. 


332         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

and  inequality  of  human  experience  could  be  reconciled  with 
divine  goodness,  how  the  perfecting  of  man  is  mediated  by 
Christ.  To  convert  the  world  Christianity  must  answer  these 
large  questions.  Origen's  system  gave  them  ample  statement 
and  a  brilliantly  persuasive  answer  in  a  general  view  so  satis- 
fying to  mind  and  heart  that  it  carried  to  victory  over  Adop- 
tionism  and  Sabellianism  the  Christology  which  he  expounded. 
All  believers  affirmed  a  divine  background  for  jthe  life  of 
Jesus.  Origen  conceived  Christ  as  exhibiting  and  creating 
in  the  believer  in  Christ  a  unison  of  thought  and  will  between 
the  human  soul  and  the  Logos.  The  Logos  is  a  hypostasis 
(person)  distinct  from  God  as  the  Absolute  yet  of  one  essence 
with  him,  and,  God  being  changeless  will,  eternally  and  con- 
tinuously generated  from  the  Father  to  be  the  creative  ground 
and  sustaining  energy  of  the  world.  In  fellowship  with 
Christ  man  thus  has  communion  with  the  divine  power 
immanent  in  the  world.  Although  seen  from  a  later  time 
Origen's  Christology  failed  to  arrive  at  what  has  become 
complete  orthodoxy,  the  enthusiasm  justly  roused  by  his 
total  view  insured  the  success  of  his  advanced  trinitarian  and 
christological  thought,  so  that  by  the  middle  of  the  third  cen- 
tury the  Logos  doctrine  was  dominant  in  Rome  and  about 
270  A.D.  triumphed  over  Adoptionism  expounded  in  the  East 
by  Paul,  the  bishop  of  Antioch,  From  that  time  on  this 
theology  was  taught  in  the  baptismal  instruction  and  began 
to  enter  into  the  tissue  of  the  social  mind  of  Christian  com- 
munities. 

Literature. — ^Duchesne,  Histoire  ancienne  de  Veglise  (Paris:  Fonte- 
moing,  1906-8;  English  translation,  The  Early  History  of  the  Church 
[New  York:  Longmans,  1913]).  (A  masterpiece  of  Catholic  scholarship 
and  literary  art.  The  most  interesting  to  read.)  Robert  Rainy,  The 
Ancient  Catholic  Church  (New  York:  Scribner,  1902).  (A  careful 
manual.)  H.  M.  Gwatkin,  Early  Church  History  to  313,  2  voR  (London: 
Macmillan,  1909).  J.  Estlin  Carpenter,  Phases  of  Early  Christianity 
(New  York:  Putnam,  1916).  George  P.  Fisher,  History  of  Christian 
Doctrine  (New  York:    Scribner,  1896).    Reinhold  Seeberg,  Grundriss 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH        333 

dcr  Dogmengeschichie  (Leipzig:  Deichert,  1901;  English  translation, 
Text-book  of  the  History  of  Doctrines  [Philadelphia:  Lutheran  Publication 
Society,  1905]).  (This  valuable  manual  provides  in  translation  the 
significant  doctrinal  utterances  of  church  Fathers.)  Adolf  Harnack, 
History  of  Dogma,  Vols.  I-VII  (Boston:  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  1905). 
(A  work  for  advanced  students.) 


II.      THE    STRENGTHENING   OF   CHURCH   ORGANIZATION 

The  effect  of  persecutions  on  church  polity;  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  clergy. — The  gospel  of  the  infinite  significance  of 
love  had  been  elaborated  into  a  cosmology  and  a  conception  of 
salvation  more  rational  and  illuminating  than  Gnostic  circles 
and  pagan  mystery-cults  could  offer.  It  began  to  draw 
to  itself  the  moral  ardor  and  the  higher  intelligence  of  the 
world,  and  it  became  formidable  to  the  pagan  organization  of 
life.  The  state  made  its  first  systematic  efforts  to  suppress 
a  religious  system  of  such  menace  to  the  sanctities  to  which 
the  Roman  imperial  power  appealed.  The  emperor  Decius 
(250)  began  a  persecution  of  ten  years'  duration,  but  by 
reason  of  the  numbers,  the  social  status,  and  the  devotion 
of  the  Christians  the  attack  was  doomed  to  failure,  and  the 
effect  on  the  church  itself  was  to  strengthen  it  as  an  institution 
by  adding  firmness  to  clerical  authority.  Controversies  over 
the  policy  of  bishops  in  dealing  with  men  tempted  to  apos- 
tasy resulted  in  schismatic  churches,  but  the  result  was  that 
the  bishop  became  absolute  monarch  of  the  local  church ;  the 
church  indispensable  to  salvation  was  to  be  found  in  the 
bishop's  ofhce,  and  the  world-unity  of  Christianity  was  defined 
(Cyprian  of  Carthage,  251)  as  resting  in  the  totality  of  bishops. 
Presbyters  and  deacons  were  no  longer  officers  of  the  con- 
gregation but  delegates  of  an  episcopate  sovereign  in  doc- 
trine and  discipline  and  clothed  now  with  the  sanctity  of  the 
Old  Testament  priesthood.  The  situation  produced  by  the 
Decian  persecution,  the  ecclesiastical  policy  and  formulations 
of  Cyprian,  and  the  conflict  between  Cyprian  and  Stephen 


334         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  Rome  arrest  the  attention  of  the  student  and  enable  him 
to  see  the  relation  of  historical  conditions  to  the  emergence 
of  the  sacerdotal  power  which  so  defines  Catholicism.  With 
the  provision  of  penance  for  apostates  the  church  definitely 
ceased  to  be  a  company  of  the  saved  and  became  a  company 
seeking  salvation  through  a  priesthood  which  controlled  the 
keys  to  heaven  and  hell.  The  Roman  recognition  of  heretical 
baptism  marks  the  arrival  of  the  opus  operatum  conception 
of  a  sacrament.  Cyprian's  view  of  the  priestly  function  in 
worship  shows  the  passage  from  an  act  of  commemoration 
and  communion  to  a  symbolic  repetition  of  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ's  death  upon  the  cross.  This  is  the  point  of  history 
where  the  momentous  power  of  sacerdotal  authority  begins 
to  be  felt. 

The  great  persecution  thus  fortified  the  church  organiza- 
tion for  the  final  pagan  assault  which,  after  a  forty  years 
interval  of  peace  and  prosperity,  came  under  Diocletian  (303) 
and  was  confessed  a  failure  by  the  edict  of  Milan  (313),  which 
gave  equality  to  Christianity  and  pagan  cults.  The  church 
emerged  from  its  long  conflict  with  the  world  unified  in  sub- 
stance of  doctrine  and  restrained  by  standards  which  pre- 
vented any  marked  aberrations,  administered  by  officers 
possessing  extraordinary  powers,  and  celebrating  a  ritual 
which  had  already  assimilated  the  conception  of  salvation 
to  which  pagan  cults  aspired. 

Literature. — Harnack,  Expansion  of  Christianity  (New  York:  Put- 
nam, 1904);  H.  B.  Workman,  Persecution  in  the  Early  Church  (London: 
Kelly,  1906-11);  J.  A.  F.  Gregg,  The  Decian Persecution  (London:  Black- 
wood &  Sons,  1898);  C.  W.  Benson,  Cyprian,  His  Life,  Times,  Work 
(London:  Macmillan,  1897). 

III.      UNION   WITH   THE   WORLD 

The  demand  for  political  unity. — With  Constantine,  sole 
ruler  after  324,  began  the  new  era  of  Christianity  with  the 
state  as  patron.    The  poHtical  problem  of  this  new  ruler  of 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH        335 

Western  origin  was  to  win  the  East,  and  his  policy  was  to 
estabhsh  a  universal  Christian  state  with  a  new  Eastern 
capital,  Constantinople,  free  from  the  tenacious  traditions  of 
the  gods  of  Rome.  The  American  student,  accustomed  to 
churches  free  from  political  connection,  will  have  pecuhar 
interest  in  considering  what  happened  to  Christianity  by  this 
union  with  the  state.  An  obvious  effect  of  the  suppression 
of  pagan  worship,  begun  by  the  sons  of  Constantine,  was 
the  streaming  into  the  church  of  masses  of  men  who  had 
not  chosen  it  for  its  ethics  and  who  broke  down  its  serious 
discipline.  It  was  but  natural  that  they  should  also  bring  into 
the  usage  and  worship  of  the  church  beliefs  and  practices 
which,  found  in  paganism,  are  deemed  superstition.  The 
church  was  established  before  society  was  adequately  Chris- 
tian in  ideals. 

The  demand  for  official  doctrinal  unity. — Nor  was  this 
the  only  way  in  which  the  change  to  a  state  church  obscured 
the  original  ethical  interest.  Party  strife,  resting  largely 
upon  poHtical  motives,  consumed  the  energy  of  the  church 
in  the  struggle  over  theological  precision  in  the  official  creed 
now  demanded.  To  use  Christianity  as  the  basis  of  world- 
unity  Constantine  needed  a  united  church.  He  must  over- 
come the  divisions  which  had  been  created  by  the  issues  of 
discipline  due  to  the  preceding  persecutions  (Donatists, 
Meletians,  Novationists) .  A  dissension  still  more  alarming 
was  developing  in  the  East.  The  Adoptionists  had  not  been 
wholly  vanquished  by  the  condemnation  of  Paul  in  Antioch 
(270),  though  their  theological  leader,  Lucian,  compromised 
with  the  dominant  thought  by  accepting  the  conception  of  the 
Logos,  not  indeed,  as  a  person  in  deity  but  as  a  semi-deity 
intermediate  between  God  and  creation.  Christ  was  neither 
man  nor  God  but  this  Logos  personality  in  human  shape. 
This  crude  compromise  was  not  in  harmony  with  a  view  which 
required  both  full  humanity  and  full  deity  in  Christ.  In 
pagan  cults  a  physical  redemption  was  sought  by  union  with 


33^         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

a  god.  So  now  the  Christian  circles  emphasized  the  eternaliz- 
ing of  man  by  an  interpenetration  of  divine  and  human  sub- 
stance. "As  in  Adam  all  die  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made 
alive."  The  redeemer  who  mediated  this  "deification" 
through  the  eucharistic  sacrament  must  unite  in  his  person  a 
real  humanity  and  a  Logos  being  that  by  absolute  oneness  with 
deity  could  bring  an  unqualified  eternity  of  divine  nature  into 
human  possession.  It  was  this  dissension  which  disturbed  the 
imperial  policy  and  induced  emperors  to  give  the  weight  of 
their  authority  to  one  or  another  creedal  phrase  related  to  the 
contentions  concerning  the  Trinity  or  the  two  natures  in 
Christ.  The  deification  of  Christ  for  the  interest  of  worship 
and  the  theory  of  salvation  was  thus  completed  by  a  process 
in  which  political  instincts  and  ecclesiastical  rivalries  dis- 
torted and  degraded  the  Christian  ideals.  The  church 
seemed  to  lose  its  moral  power  by  union  with  the  world.  The 
intellectual  discussion  spent  itself  and  theology  became  a 
neo-Platonic  theory  of  the  elaborate  ritual  worship  in  which 
the  Christology  had  expressed  itself. 

Some  results  of  this  political  unification. — Social  power 
had  indeed  been  gained.  Perfected  in  doctrine,  in  ritual,  in 
administration,  the  church  shared  the  state's  poHtical 
authority.  The  creed  adopted  by  the  majority  was  enforced 
by  state  law  with  penalties  of  outlawry  and  death  on  public 
dissent.  The  clergy  was  exempt  from  burdens  of  taxations 
and  army  duty.  Churches  were  enabled  to  hold  large 
endowments  from  public  or  private  gifts.  Bishops  won 
judicial  authority,  the  state  accepting  a  bishop's  decision  of 
cases  appealed  to  him  from  the  civil  courts.  Power  and 
opportunity  thus  fell  to  the  religious  establishment.  What 
social  tasks  did  it  perform  ?  It  is  to  be  feared  that  union 
with  the  world  involved  it  in  the  decay  which  fell  upon  the 
world,  and  although  some  beneficent  services  may  be  recited, 
the  uplift  and  transformation  of  society  to  the  pattern  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  was  a  task  beyond  the  power  of  the  Eastern 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH        337 

church.     In  the  reform  and  reinvigoration  of  the  state  by  the 
Isaurian  emperors  the  church  was  a  resistant  obstacle. 

IV.      THE   IDEALS   OF   MONASTICISM 

Why  did  monasticism  flourish? — The  failure  is  accentuated 
by  the  relative  failure  of  Eastern  monasticism.  Why  and 
to  what  end  this  new  institution  ?  It  sprang  surely  from 
vague  discontent  with  the  loss  of  the  church's  original  heroic 
ideal.  The  earhest  theory  really  required  that  the  church 
should  be  a  fellowship  of  saints,  and  when  experience  belied  the 
theory,  those  who  would  be  perfect  withdrew  from  the  churches 
where  sins  were  too  easily  forgiven,  if  not  to  found  Puritan 
churches  of  strict  discipline  at  least  to  the  abnormal  and 
merely  negative  holiness  of  the  hermit  life.  Especially  in  the 
second  quarter  of  the  fourth  century,  when  the  church  made 
formal  union  with  the  world  and  a  mass  of  population  entered 
it  from  expediency,  the  man  passionate  for  perfection  forsook 
the  church  for  the  company  of  austere  ascetics  and  seekers 
of  mystical  privilege  in  the  desert.  The  emptiness  of  this 
negative  life  and  the  ineradicable  principle  of  fellowship 
compelled  the  organization  of  these  ascetics  in  the  social 
form  of  monasticism  where  work  and  study  were  joined  with 
prayer  and  fasting.  St.  Basil  (360  ff.)  sought  to  find  social 
usefulness  for  these  ideal  communities  by  giving  them  the 
care  of  orphanages  and  the  education  of  boys,  but  in  the 
East  the  farm  labor,  the  works  of  charity,  the  intellectual 
occupation,  died  away  and  only  the  limited  life  of  routine 
devotions  and  devout  contemplation  remained.  Even  this 
refuge  of  strenuous  souls  shared  in  the  general  stagnation 
where  religion  became  a  traditional  ritual  form  without 
ethical  or  social  vitality.  There  was  mysticism,  but  the 
emotional  bliss  of  this  mysticism  wears  the  aspect  of  a  sub- 
ethical  type  of  religiosity  other  than  that  awe  and  enthusiasm 
for  God's  sovereignty  of  righteous  purpose  which  Christianity 
had    inherited    from    Israel's    religious    consciousness.     The 


338        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

story  of  the  East  sharpens  interest  in  the  somewhat  con- 
trasted career  of  Christianity  in  the  West.  A  further  evolu- 
tion, the  continuous  and  progressive  assimilation  and  striving 
which  mark  a  growing  organism,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Latin 
rather  than  the  Greek  church  of  the  mediaeval  period. 

Literature. — ^Harnack,  Seeberg,  Fisher,  as  cited  on  p.  332;  A.  E. 
Burn,  Introduction  to  the  Creeds  (London:  Methuen,  1899);  W.  P. 
Du  Bose,  The  Ecumenical  Councils  (New  York:  Scribner,  1896);  H.  B. 
Workman,  The  Evolution  of  the  Monastic  Ideal  (London:  Kelly,  1913). 

V.      THE   DEVELOPMENT   AND   SIGNIFICANCE    OF    THE 
GREEK   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 

The  age  of  Justinian. — Attention  to  the  age  of  the  emperor 
Justinian  (527-65)  reveals  the  distinctive  form  which  the 
Greek  church  was  destined  to  assume,  a  church  under  state 
control,  a  church  absorbed  in  a  ritual  worship  grounded  in 
neo-Platonist  forms  of  thought.  In  Justinian  we  have  the 
emperor  as  pope.  The  bishops  were  reduced  to  unconditional 
submission  to  the  imperial  will,  and  the  Codex  Juslinianus, 
the  codification  of  imperial  laws,  became,  together  with  the 
canons  of  the  ecumenical  councils,  the  law  of  the  church. 
The  Greek  church  came  thus  to  be  characterized  by  submis- 
siveness  to  the  policy  of  the  state  and  claimed  no  social 
mission  of  its  own.  The  church  ceased  to  be  an  ideal  object 
of  faith  and  meant  the  totality  of  the  population  uniting  in 
its  worship.  The  natural  result  was  that  with  the  fall  of 
the  Empire  it  fell  into  national  divisions. 

The  essentials  of  Eastern  orthodoxy. — The  policy  of  the 
emperor-pope  was  to  suppress  heresy,  give  the  sole  control 
to  orthodoxy,  and  to  check  new  tendencies.  Eastern 
orthodoxy  never  advanced  beyond  the  matters  settled  by  the 
Nicene  and  Chalcedonian  creeds.  Thought  remained  in 
the  patristic  stage  without  receiving  that  fructification 
from  Pauline  thought  which  the  West  obtained  through 
Augustine.     With  the  decline  of  thought  and  the  lack  of 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH   339 

institutional  program  religion  tended  to  be  a  contemplative 
enjoyment  of  the  ritual  which  now  more  dramatically  than 
before  expressed  the  deification  of  man  accomplished  by 
the  incarnation  and  resurrection  of  the  God-man.  The  only 
added  novelty  was  the  literature  of  the  pseudo-Dionysius 
Areopagita  which  contributed  a  kind  of  theology  of  the 
worship.  This  is  essentially  a  Christianizing  of  the  neo- 
Platonism  of  Proclus  and  reveals  the  complete  final  substitu- 
tion of  the  metaphysical  idea  of  the  Absolute  for  the  Father 
proclaimed  by  the  Jesus  of  history.  The  student  will  find 
interest  in  a  related  topic — the  development  of  image- worship. 
This  may  possibly  be  viewed  as  the  surging  up  of  lower  levels 
of  popular  religion  when  the  higher  circles  ceased  to  think. 

Literature. — ^W.  G.  Holmes,  The  Age  of  Justinian  and  Theodora 
(London:  Bell,  1905-7);  W.  H.  Hutton,  The  Church  of  the  Sixth  Century 
(London:  Longmans,  1897);  W.  F.  Adeney,  The  Greek  and  Eastern 
Churches  (New  York:  Scribner,  1909). 

VI.      THE  PROBLEM  FOR  STUDY  IN  THE  HISTORY   OF   WESTERN 
CHRISTIANITY 

The  meaning  of  religion  in  Western  Catholicism. — What 
the  student  is  to  learn  and  comprehend  is  suggested  by  the 
situation  at  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  supreme 
question  confronting  a  man  was  the  question  of  his  guilt  and 
pardon.  Religion  seems  to  center  in  the  sacrament  of  penance. 
A  man  is  born  subject  to  the  king  of  England  or  of  France,  or 
to  some  German  or  Italian  prince,  but  he  is  also  born  subject 
to  another  dominion  which  determines  his  eternal  weal  or  woe 
by  granting  or  withholding  pardon  for  his  sins.  The  national 
dominion  is  secular,  but  this  spiritual  dominion  is  not  merely 
secular.  Its  treasury  in  Rome  draws  the  wealth  of  the 
nations.  Its  agents  hold  marriage  courts  and  probate  courts 
and  profit  by  the  settlement  of  estates.  Its  supreme  head 
claims  the  right  to  erect  or  depose  national  rulers  and  to 
absolve  subjects,  if  it  will,  from  the  duty  of  political  allegiance. 


340        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

This  dread  sovereign  who  controls  so  much  of  Hfe  and  can 
even  determine  the  duration  of  the  soul's  disciphne  in  purga- 
tory is  not  a  mere  chief  priest.  It  is  a  prince  among  princes; 
sovereign  of  an  Italian  state,  who  wields  this  universal  spiritual 
power  and  loans  the  sword  of  temporal  rule  to  other  princes. 
The  state  church  has  become  a  church-state.  The  Roman 
successor  to  the  missionary  glory  that  was  Peter's  has  become 
the  vicar  of  God  on  earth. 

The  study  of  the  growth  of  Western  Catholicism. — A 
historical  process  produced  this  ecclesiastical  absolutism. 
What  is  the  story  of  that  process  ?  What  ideal  actuated  it  ? 
What  accounts  for  the  social  acceptance  of  it?  What  his- 
toric service  was  rendered  by  this  mediaeval  papal  theocracy 
in  the  West  ?  The  themes  presented  to  study  are  the  ethical 
emphasis  of  Western  Christianity,  the  role  of  monasticism 
in  the  life  of  the  West,  the  process  by  which  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  became  master  of  church  life,  the  origin  and  develop- 
ment of  the  ideal  which  the  papacy  sought  to  embody,  and . 
the  reasons  why  in  the  end  every  nation  was  in  rebellion 
against  the  historical  result. 

Literature  {general  treatments  of  Western  Catholicism). — H.  H.  Mil- 
man,  History  of  Latin  Christianity,  8  vols.  (New  York:  Sheldon,  1890); 
H.  B.  Workman,  The  Church  in  the  Middle  Ages  (London:  Kelly,  1900); 
H.  A.  L.  Fisher,  The  Mediaeval  Empire,  2  vols.  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
1900);  J.  Bryce,  The  Holy  Roman  Empire  (New  York:  Macmillan 
[many  editions]);  E.  Emerton,  Introduction  to  the  Middle  Ages  (Boston: 
Ginn  &  Co.,  1888);  E.  Emerton,  Mediaeval  Europe  (Boston:  Ginn  & 
Co.,  1896);  Andre  Lagarde,  The  Latin  Church  in  the  Middle  Ages  (New 
York:  Scribner,  1915);  Mandell  Creighton,  History  of  the  Papacy  frotn 
the  Great  Schism  to  the  Sack  of  Rome,  Vols.  I-VI  (New  York:  Longmans, 
1892). 

VII.     WESTERN  CHARACTERISTICS 

How  does  Western  Christianity  differ  from  Eastern? — 

Turning  from  the  stagnant  East  a  student  seeks  to  know  what 
differentiates  Western  and  Eastern  Christianity.  No  differ- 
ence is  found  in  the  formulation  of  trinitarian  and  christo- 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH        341 

logical  doctrine.  The  West  in  fact  furnished  the  terminology 
adopted  in  the  ecumenical  creeds.  The  West  also  shows  a 
similar  fusion  of  Christianity  with  elements  of  paganism, 
Roman  or  Teutonic.  Pagan  shrines,  rites,  and  festivals  were 
Christianized  in  name.  Christmas,  Easter,  Whitsuntide 
had  usages  of  pagan  origin,  and  the  saints  are  obviously  suc- 
cessors to  the  pagan  gods.  It  was  in  fact  by  this  blending 
with  Teutonic  elements  that  Christianity  became  the  religion 
of  the  masses. 

Great  personalities  in  the  West. — The  fact  of  a  signifi- 
cant difference  may  be  seen  in  the  varied  and  powerful  moral 
personalities  of  Western  history,  whose  personal  energy  and 
rich  individuality  apparently  center  in  the  strength  of  their 
religious  consciousness.  To  know  the  mediaeval  period 
one  must  gain  intimacy  with  these  remarkable  types  of  human 
character:  Gregory  I,  Hildebrand,  Bernhard  of  Clairvaux, 
Francis  of  Assisi — ^men  who  enrich  our  conception  of  human 
possibility.  More  broadly,  the  whole  life  of  the  West  shows 
that  religion  did  not  suppress  or  conventionalize  diversified 
human  power  in  men  of  varied  talents:  Charlemagne,  Arnold 
of  Brescia,  Frederick  II,  Abelard,  Aquinas,  Dante.  Is  this 
related  to  the  higher  valuation  in  the  West  of  Christ's  human 
personality  as  compared  with  the  Greek  church,  where  Jesus 
vanished  into  a  vague,  abstract  humanity,  attaining  person- 
ality only  in  the  Logos,  and  where  ritualistic  or  monastic  mysti- 
cism rested  upon  a  pantheistic  conception  ?  It  is  in  the  West 
that  we  hear  of  Christ  as  mediator  tanquam  homo  (Augustine), 
of  the  love  of  the  human  Jesus  as  prior  to  mystical  ecstasy 
(Bernhard),  of  the  apostolic  life  as  the  ideal  (Arnold,  Francis, 
Waldensians) ,  of  the  Imitalio  Christi  (a  Kempis),  of  the  de- 
votions of  the  Stations  of  the  Cross.  The  play  of  the  religious 
consciousness  as  awe  and  self-submission  to  One  who  is  holy 
through  righteousness,  the  t}q3e  of  religious  consciousness 
by  which  the  Hebrew  prophets  reached  ethical  monotheism  and 
Jesus  found  the  fatherhood  of  love  in  God — this  seems  to 


342        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

resume  its  sway  more  distinctly  in  the  Western  development. 
The  East  dealt  with  categories  of  substance  or  nature.  The 
West  talked  of  the  will,  the  tragedy  of  the  divided  will,  the 
perfection  of  the  will  in  caritas.  The  Western  soul  vibrated 
more  to  the  ethical  note.  There  was  more  homesickness 
for  the  morally  perfect.  If  the  Greek  church  developed  that 
aspect  of  Paul's  thought  which  is  now  seen  to  be  related,  in 
expression  at  least,  to  the  sacramentalism  of  mystery-cults, 
the  West  began  with  Augustine  to  understand  that  other 
Paulinism  which  wrestled  with  the  problems  of  guilt  and 
forgiveness,  of  law,  of  merit,  of  justification  by  faith.  It  is 
Augustine  who  first  makes  us  understand  Christianity  as 
''the  religion  of  personality,"  and  Harnack's  chapter  on 
Augustine  as  ''The  Reformer  of  Piety"  {History  of  Dogma, 
Vol.  V)  is  a  good  basis  for  all  s^-mpathetic  understanding  of 
the  best  in  Western  religion. 

Literature. — Harnack,  History  of  Dogma,  Vol.  V  (Boston:  Little, 
Brown,  1905);  Rudolph  Eucken,  Die  Lehensanschauimgen  der  grossen 
Denker,  5.  Aufl.  (Leipzig:  Veit,  1904;  English  translation.  The  Prob- 
lem of  Human  Life  as  Viewed  by  the  Great  Thinkers  from  Plato  to  the 
Present  Time  [New  York:  Scribner,  1909]);  H.  B.  Workman,  Christian 
Thought  to  the  Reformation  (London:  Kelly,  191 1). 

VIII.      MONASTICISM   IN   THE   WEST 

Organization  and  activities. — The  monk  was  the  religiosus. 
Monasticism  was  the  soul  of  Catholicism  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
Augustine,  reformer  of  piety,  as  a  priest  and  bishop  united 
his  clergy  in  a  life  according  to  monastic  rule.  Many  great 
bishops  of  Gaul  were  trained  in  the  monastic  life.  With 
Gregory  I  a  monk  became  pope.  The  famous  Benedictine 
rule  which  Gregory's  missionaries  carried  to  England  and 
which  English  missionaries  carried  to  Teutonic  lands  on  the 
Continent  was  free  from  ascetic  extravagance  and  empha- 
sized the  life  of  the  Christian  spirit  in  an  ideal  brotherhood 
disciplined  to  prayer  and  manual  labor  and  devout  reading. 


DEVELOPMENT  OE  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH        343 

Incidentally  rather  than  by  intention  Benedictine  monasteries 
kept  culture  alive  and  so  contributed  to  civilization  in  the 
centuries  of  darkness;  but  the  great  historic  service  which 
exhibited  monastic  religion  as  a  social  force  were  the  missions 
which  converted  Teutonic  peoples  and  disciplined  them  both 
by  moral  instruction  and  by  a  model  community  life  of 
brotherhood  and  organization  and  work.  To  the  chaotic 
moral  dissolution  of  the  Franks  who  had  convents  without 
influence  upon  the  world  outside  came  the  missionary  Irish 
monks  of  Columbanus  who  were  preachers  to  the  people  and 
applied  to  lay  life  the  moral  discipline  of  their  own  penitential 
rules.  To  the  Frisians,  Hessians,  Thuringians,  Saxons,  came 
the  English  missionary  monks  with  the  Benedictine  rule  which 
was  to  prevail  over  all  others — ^missionaries  of  a  moralistic 
type  of  religion  applying  again  the  monk's  penitential  canons 
and  inculcating  in  wild  natures  the  plain,  concrete  duties  of 
moral  life.  From  the  ninth  century  the  great  organization  of 
the  Congregation  of  Cluny  became  a  factor  in  Western  civili- 
zation, impressing  the  severe  standards  of  Catholic  piety 
upon  a  secular  priesthood  too  easily  prone  to  the  interests  of 
the  world,  impressing  upon  the  anarchic  warring  lords  of 
feudalism  the  duty  of  the  peace  of  God.  The  cultural  work 
of  Cistercians  and  Premonstrants  marks  again  the  social  effi- 
ciency of  Western  piety,  and  with  the  new  creations  of  Francis- 
can and  Dominican  friars  there  is  a  new  creation  of  European 
life  not  only  in  enthusiastic  piety  but  in  art,  science,  and 
poetry.  Plato's  teaching  that  the  Good  is  the  creative 
principle  finds  illustration  in  these  cases  of  undesigned  social 
results  from  devotion  to  Christian  goodness. 

Influence  of  monasticism. — Monasticism  thus  intensified 
the  ethical  type  of  Christianity  which  was  congenial  to  the 
practical  West  and  helped  to  make  the  problem  of  sin  and 
its  remedy  by  the  sacrament  of  penance  the  central  interest 
in  church  life.  But  more  than  that  it  had  a  great  ecclesiastical 
result.     The    monks    as    papal    missionaries    made    Roman 


344        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

usage  and  respect  for  Rome  dominant  in  England.  English 
missionaries  (Boniface)  became  papal  and  Romanizing  agents 
in  German  lands  and  helped  bring  to  pass  that  alliance  of  the 
Frankish  monarchy  and  the  papacy  by  which  the  Roman 
bishops  won  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  power.  It  was 
the  Cluny  monastery  reform  which  found  expression  in  the 
great  papal  program  of  Hildebrand  and  his  successors  by  which 
the  Church  of  Rome  was  to  be  in  control  of  civilization.  When 
the  papacy  had  begun  to  make  the  program  something  of  a 
reality,  the  Friars  of  St.  Francis  and  St.  Dominic  were  an 
international  spiritual  army  for  the  papal  cause. 

Literature.— VL.  B.  Workman,  The  Evolution  of  the  Monastic  Ideal 
(London:  Kelly,  1913  [with  a  bibliography]);  Montalembert,  The 
Monks  of  the  West,  6  vols.  (London:    J.  C.  Nimmo,  1896). 

IX.      THE   MISSION   OF    THE   PAPACY 

In  our  own  generation  the  churches  are  summoned  to  a 
social  mission:  the  transformation  of  the  social  order.  Some- 
thing of  the  early  messianic  enthusiasm  comes  back  to  the 
Christian  soul.  It  was  the  illusion  of  Lammenais  that  the 
papacy  could  act  as  the  instrument  of  this  modern  social 
transformation.  It  was  despair  of  any  other  solution  that 
carried  Orestes  Brownson  into  the  Cathohc  church.  The 
pressure  of  this  contemporary  ardor  will  kindle  the  student's 
interest  in  the  story  of  the  mediaeval  papacy.  It  will  give 
him  a  point  of  view  by  which  to  appreciate  its  historic  mission. 
From  this  great  historic  experiment  also  he  may  learn  some- 
thing of  the  peril  which  political  power  brought  to  religion. 

The  ideal  of  papal  policy. — What  the  student  wishes  to 
comprehend  is  the  historical  process  by  which  the  amazing 
claims  of  the  bull  U?iam  Sanctam,  issued  by  Boniface  VIII 
in  1302,  came  to  be  possible.  According  to  that  bull  the 
church  possesses  both  the  spiritual  and  political  authority 
over  mankind.  Kings  and  soldiers  wield  the  sword  of  political 
authority   by   the   will   and   sufferance   of   the   pope.     The 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH        345 

spiritual  power,  the  papacy,  establishes  the  earthly  power 
and  sits  in  judgment  upon  the  use  made  of  it.  It  is  necessary 
to  salvation  for  every  human  being  to  be  subject  to  the 
Roman  pontiff.  When  the  student  begins  the  story  of  the 
development  of  the  Roman  primacy  he  finds  an  explanation 
in  many  historic  relativities  cleverly  used  by  bishops  who 
inherited  the  Roman  instinct  and  tradition  for  rule.  At  a 
later  time  he  finds  a  mass  of  fraudulent  documents  used  to 
support  a  claim  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  for  the  Roman 
bishop  over  the  churches  of  the  West.  He  discovers  that 
the  general  ignorance  of  actual  history,  the  absence  of  any 
critical- sense  even  among  the  intelligent,  and  the  blind  cred- 
ulity of  the  masses  furnish  conditions  for  the  rise  of  the 
absolute  papal  monarchy.  He  has  a  partial  explanation 
of  that  power  to  which  emperors  like  Henry  IV,  Frederick 
Barbarossa,  and  Frederick  II  humbled  themselves.  But  he 
also  detects  that  this  marvelous  papal  development  had  its 
origin  in  an  ideal  conception  and  that  those  who  fostered  it 
were  actuated  by  the  aim  of  Christianizing  a  social  order  full 
of  injustice,  strife,  and  corruption. 

The  papal  ideal  and  the  Kingdom  of  God. — This  ideal 
conception  has  some  relation  to  the  primitive  Christian  ex- 
pectation of  the  reign  of  Christ  on  earth,  but  it  was  formed 
when  the  decay  of  the  Roman  Empire  compelled  reflection 
upon  the  course  of  history.  Alaric's  sack  of  Rome  in  410  was 
a  shock  to  Christian  as  well  as  pagan.  Why  was  Rome,  that 
had  been  strong  when  pagan,  doomed  to  perish  in  Christian 
times  ?  Wrestling  with  this  problem  of  history,  Augustine 
wrote  his  City  of  God  with  the  argument  that  what  was  hap- 
pening was  the  supplanting  of  a  dominion  founded  on  self- 
love  by  a  dominion  founded  on  love  of  God,  a  kingdom  of 
force  yielding  to  the  church  of  Christ  as  the  earthly  anticipa- 
tion of  the  eternal  Kingdom  of  God.  With  the  irruption  of 
wild  Teutonic  hordes  into  the  Empire  and  the  part  played  by 
the  church  in  civilizing  and  moralizing  these  barbarians,  with 


346        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  ever-present  dualism  of  barbarians'  conquests  by  power 
and  the  church's  assertion  of  spiritual  dominance,  Augustine's 
conception  became  more  and  more  real  as  an  interpretation  of 
history.  If,  however,  the  church  was  a  kingdom,  it  must  be 
more  than  a  preaching  voice;  it  must  be  able  to  enforce  obedi- 
ence to  its  higher  will. 

Church  and  state. — How  should  this  authority  come  to 
the  spiritual  power?  The  mediaeval  empire  began  with 
Charlemagne,  who  had  pondered  on  Augustine's  Civitatis  Dei 
and  conceived  his  power  in  theocratic  form.  His  empire  was 
a  church-state  ruled  by  a  priestly  emperor.  Subjects  owed 
both  political  and  religious  duties  to  his  theocratic  will.  He 
was  head  both  of  state  and  church.  But  the  conditions  of 
history  gave  no  permanence  to  this  ideal.  The  imperial 
successors  of  Charlemagne  did  not  inherit  it  nor  were  they 
qualified  to  give  it  effect.  The  church  must  exercise  authority 
over  them  in  order  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  might  have 
earthly  expression.  In  whose  hands  then  should  the  authority 
lie?  The  first  natural  answer  would  be:  In  the  hands  of 
the  bishops.  But  the  bishops  themselves  were  more  and 
more  dependent  on  the  world,  on  the  very  civitas  terrena 
that  needed  restraint  and  guidance.  Bishops  were  appointed 
by  the  state.  They  were  a  part  of  the  political  system.  They 
were  members  of  a  military  aristocracy  involved  in  the 
world's  quest  of  riches  and  power.  He  who  reached  the 
dignity  of  archbishop  was  likely  to  show  himself  an  auto- 
cratic prince,  and  it  is  significant  that  just  when  the  royal 
power  was  too  weak  to  restrain  such  ecclesiastical  princes 
subordinate  bishops  in  Gaul,  about  850  a.d.,  forged  a  series 
of  documents  providing  for  papal  supremacy  over  the  hier- 
archy and  for  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  pope  in  the  case  of 
bishops  oppressed  by  their  metropolitan  (the  forged  decretals). 
This  spurious  canon  law  was  quietly  made  use  of  by  Pope 
Nicholas  I.  He  began  that  series  of  claims  to  absolute 
sovereignty  which  culminated  in  the  bull  of  Boniface  VIII, 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH        347 

already  mentioned.  This  spurious  canon  law,  which  was 
accepted  in  an  age  without  historic  sense,  was  appealed  to  by 
those  who  were  associated  with  the  movement  for  reform 
championed  by  the  Congregation  of  Cluny.  The  great 
career  of  Hildebrand  in  the  eleventh  century  is  the  career  of 
such  a  social  reformer  aiming  above  all  to  make  bishops 
dependent  on  a  reformed  papacy  rather  than  on  a  secular 
ruler  who  seldom  was  actuated  by  the  principles  of  Christian 
ethics.  The  test  question  thus  became  the  investiture  or 
form  of  installation  of  a  bishop  in  his  office. 

The  place  of  the  church  in  a  feudal  system. — To  com- 
prehend the  historical  situation  in  its  moral  aspects  the 
student  needs  to  know  the  workings  of  feudalism — the  social 
system  of  the  time — not  merely  learning  its  general  character 
and  origins  but  studying  it  as  it  was  seen  in  its  actual  opera- 
tion by  the  pious  monks  who  wrote  chronicles.  Such  a 
chronicler,  Richer,  in  the  tenth  century  describes  the  time 
when  might  made  right:  "To  plunder  other  men's  possessions 
is  every  man's  supreme  aim.  It  is  a  bad  management  of 
one's  business  not  to  add  to  one's  own  inheritance  that  of 
others.  Hence  in  place  of  concord  universal  discord.  Hence 
pillage,  burnings,  usurpations,  violence."  So  also  the  eleventh 
and  the  twelfth  centuries  are  full  of  complaints  of  oppression 
of  the  weak,  the  misery  of  the  serfs,  the  plundering  of  churches. 
The  "world"  of  that  time  seen  in  such  contrast  to  the  church 
was  the  expression  of  greed,  cruelty,  and  lust.  It  had  not 
yet  been  interpenetrated  by  ideals  that  could  make  it  sover- 
eign over  the  deeper  elements  in  human  nature.  The  ideals 
that  had  sacred  restraint  on  the  soul  belonged  to  the  church. 
The  motives  actuating  Gregory  VII  in  his  great  battle  for 
papal  supremacy  rise  from  this  social  situation.  In  his  letters 
he  laments  over  the  corruption  of  the  world  where  princes 
sacrifice  righteousness  to  worldly  advantage,  and  the  cor- 
ruption of  the  church  where  bishops  obtain  office  by  purchase 
or  bargain  and  live  worldly  and  immoral  lives.    We  understand 


348        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

thus  why  he  fought  to  prevent  patronage  of  the  church  from 
being  the  spoil  and  merchandise  of  men  of  the  world. 
The  social  situation  explains  the  rise  and  acceptance  of  the 
ideal  of  papal  theocracy  and  gives  intense  interest  to  the  long 
battle  of  pope  and  emperor.  Social  peace,  social  order, 
social  justice  were  at  stake,  the  Christianizing  of  the  social 
system.  A  grandiose  idealism  actuated  the  best  of  the 
popes,  and  it  is  intelligible  that  the  great  theologians  of  the 
scholastic  period  supported  the  most  exorbitant  of  papal 
claims  and  that  the  pope's  supremacy  over  life  became 
grounded  in  the  common  mind.  Intelligible,  too,  is  the  great 
codification  of  canon  law  by  which  the  church  originating  in 
the  simple  brotherhood  of  lovers  of  Jesus  became  a  juris- 
prudential institution  requiring  the  service  of  skilled  church 
lawyers.  This  extensive  addition  of  the  papal  decretals  to 
the  old  canons  of  councils  not  only  emphasized  the  sub- 
ordination of  the  church  to  the  pope  and  began  the  systems 
under  which  the  pope  possessed  the  right  of  absolutions  and 
dispensations,  but  also  tended  to  efface  the  distinction  between 
a  church  of  worship  and  a  system  of  law.  By  the  fourteenth 
century  all  functions  of  the  church  were  treated  in  the  spirit 
of  juristic  science,  even  the  doctrines  in  which  the  Christian 
faith  and  worship  were  expressed.  Luther,  when  he  came, 
emancipated  religion  as  the  soul's  experience  from  this  false 
constraint  of  jurisprudence.  Luther  marked  his  revolt  by 
burning  the  canon  law. 

Literature. — W.  Barry,  The  Papal  Monarchy  from  St.  Gregory  the 
Great  to  Boniface  VIII  (New  York:  Putnam,  1902);  A.  F.  Villemain, 
Life  of  Gregory  VII,  2  vols.  (London:  Bentley,  1874) ;  A.  H.  Mathew,  Life 
and  Times  of  HUdebrand  (London:  Griffiths,  1910);  D.  J.  Medley,  The 
Church  and  the  Empire  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1910). 

X.      MEDIAEVAL   THEOLOGY 

Relation  to  the  life  of  the  age.— The  expression  of  the 
soul's  experience  in  conceptions  borrowed  from  the  legal 
system    of    the    feudal  times   is   illustrated  in   the   case  of 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH        349 

the  famous  doctrine  which  the  first  scholastic  theologian, 
Anselm,  contributed.  His  doctrine  of  the  atonement  is  an 
effort  to  rationalize  dogma,  to  show  that  the  church  doctrine 
agrees  with  reason.  The  dogma  is  that  God  became  man. 
Why  a  God-man  ?  Because  only  such  a  being  could  satisfy 
the  Suzerain  of  the  Universe  for  the  infinite  wrong  done  to  his 
honor.  The  argument  is  rational  only  as  it  uses  notions  cus- 
tomary in  Germanic  law.  It  seems  not  the  proper  form  of 
thought  for  what  Jesus  proclaimed  (Luke,  chap.  15)  of  the  joy 
in  heaven  over  the  sinner  that  repents.  The  illustration 
shows  us  how  contingent  and  relative  to  mediaeval  time  and 
place  were  the  conceptions  of  scholastic  theology.  Neverthe- 
less, this  chapter  in  the  history  of  doctrine  is  of  immense  inter- 
est and  profit  to  the  student  of  religion.  With  the  student 
of  the  history  of  philosophy  he  shares  the  edification  afforded 
by  this  powerful  development  of  intellectual  energy  in  dis- 
cussing the  rational  form  of  the  teachings  and  practices  of  the 
church.  The  culmination  of  this  mediaeval  thought  is  found 
in  Aquinas,  who  sought  to  bring  into  the  unity  of  one  har- 
monious system  all  that  natural  reason  knows  and  all  that 
has  been  supernaturally  revealed  to  the  church.  The  system 
is  of  sociological  interest  since  it  is  the  scientific  expression 
of  the  universal  state  which  the  theocratic  papacy  attempted 
to  make  real.  The  disruption  of  the  scholastic  move- 
ment through  the  Franciscan  attack  on  this  Dominican 
rationalism  illustrates  a  conflict  of  theological  method 
which  still  divides  men.  For  the  student  of  religion  there 
is  a  special  necessity.  He  needs  to  comprehend  how  Martin 
Luther  was  so  revolutionary  in  effect,  if  not  in  intention. 
He  needs  to  understand  how  Luther  regained  the  primi- 
tive Christian  apprehension  of  religion  as  the  soul's  experi- 
ence of  God  as  Father;  how,  emancipating  "grace"  and 
"faith"  from  their  official  expression  in  mediaeval  forms, 
he  emancipated  personal  lay  religion  from  sacerdotal 
tyranny.     The  prerogative  over  the  laity  which  the  medi- 


350        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

aeval  theory  assigned  to  the  priests  and  to  the  pope  is 
expressed  in  the  priest's  control  of  sacraments  which  were 
the  only  means  of  divine  action  on  men,  the  only  channels 
of  divine  grace  into  human  life.  It  was  in  these  sacra- 
ments, indispensable  for  salvation,  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
hierarchic  church  was  brought  home  to  every  man  in  every 
social  grade  and  made  a  reality  to  his  personal  emotional 
life.  The  chief  dogma  of  the  scholastic  period,  the  central 
interest  of  its  theology,  was  the  dogma  of  the  sacraments. 
One  must  understand  the  scholastic  attempt  to  rationalize 
or  justify  the  sacramental  systems  which  had  grown  up 
through  historical  processes  in  order  to  see  the  place  of 
Luther  in  history,  in  order  to  understand  his  terminology, 
in  order  to  see  how  and  why  the  Christian  current  of  energy 
finds  its  farther  evolutionary  expression  in  a  Protestantism 
that  broke  away  from  the  Roman  dominion. 

XI.   THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  PAPACY 

The  rise  of  national  loyalties. — The  end  of  the  mediaeval 
period  is  indeed  full  of  signs  that  the  world  would  break 
away  from  the  Roman  dominion,  and  the  student's  task  is  not 
only  to  learn  the  story  which  leads  to  the  crisis  and  catastrophe 
of  the  sixteenth  century  but  to  understand  how  and  why  life 
released  itself  from  the  control  of  the  institution  which  it  had 
created.  Reaching  its  height  of  domination  in  the  thirteenth 
century  and  reducing  the  imperial  authority  to  a  decorative 
title,  the  papal  domination  was  itself  shattered  in  the  following 
century  by  collision  with  the  new  national  organizations  in 
France  and  England  and  Spain.  These,  unlike  the  imperial 
system,  were  social  unities  grounded  in  common  blood  and 
common  speech  and  the  loyalties  sustained  by  economic 
interests,  traditions,  and  ideals  of  organized  neighborhood 
life.  The  papacy,  reduced  in  political  power,  still  profited 
by  the  spoils  of  its  victory,  and,  by  exploiting  the  wealth  of 
the  nations  without  any  longer  serving  an  adequate  social 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH       351 

purpose,  became  more  and  more  the  object  of  attack.  The 
scandal  of  papal  administration  led  to  the  reforming  councils 
where  the  papacy  was  disciplined  by  the  episcopate  or  by 
bishops  acting  for  the  expressions  of  separate  national  inter- 
ests. This  remarkable  reaction  does  not  mean  that  Europe 
was  falling  away  from  religion  but  that  religion  had  already 
fallen  away  in  some  degree  from  the  papacy. 

The  development  of  lay  religion. — This  begins  to  show 
itself  even  before  Innocent  III  exhibited  the  splendor  of  papal 
supremacy  in  the  Lateran  Council  of  1215.  The  student 
finds  that  the  religious  consciousness  of  the  people — the 
creative  source  of  all  new  movements — had  already  turned 
away  from  the  sacerdotalism  which  reigned  by  power  to 
simpler  concerted  forms  of  lay  religion  fed  by  a  knowledge 
of  the  Christian  beginnings  when  Jesus  walked  in  Galilee 
with  disciples  who  had  renounced  house  and  home  to  preach 
repentance.  The  succession  of  these  earnest,  simple  lay 
movements  of  an  evangelical  t3^e  is  instructive  as  showing 
that  the  dynamic  current  of  religion  had  met  an  obstacle 
in  the  hierarchic  institution  and  was  finding  new  outlet  and 
expression  in  the  life  of  the  common  people.  There  were 
being  generated  anti-papal,  anti-sacerdotal  currents  which 
would  contribute  popular  support  to  the  Reformation  that 
came. 

Mysticism. — Another  reaction,  also  religious,  is  of  similar 
significance  to  the  historian.  Monasticism,  serving  the  papal 
monarchy  and  sharing  in  its  affluence,  was  losing  vitality,  but 
in  Germany  and  the  Low  Countries  Dominican  monks  and 
circles  allied  to  them  were  using  the  intellectual  form  of 
scholastic  philosophy  for  the  gratification  not  of  logical  inter- 
est but  of  religious  emotion.  The  mysticism  of  Eckhart, 
Tauler,  Suso,  and  of  the  Theologia  Germanica  meant — • 
whatever  be  the  complication  with  philosophical  theory — an 
invigoration  of  the  religious  consciousness  and  the  con- 
centration of  it  on  the  problem  of  winning  a  heart  of  that 


352         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

unselfish  love  which  Jesus  preached  and  Paul  sang.  Here 
again  is  non-sacerdotal  lay  religiosity  achieving  salvation 
through  the  soul's  own  surrender  of  itself  to  the  unpurchased 
grace  of  God.  The  simpler  expressions  of  this  northern 
mysticism  helped  to  clarify  Luther's  own  understanding  of 
religion  as  a  personal  experience — no  longer  mystical  in 
theory — which,  as  accomplished  by  the  sole  mediation  of 
Christ's  revelation  of  divine  love  to  the  repentant  soul, 
emancipated  man  from  the  Babylonian  captivity  to  sacra- 
ments and  priests. 

The  revival  of  classic  culture. — There  is  finally  the  emanci- 
pation of  culture  from  the  mediaeval  scholastic  form.  This 
is  not  a  religious  movement.  It  was  the  discovery  in  the 
rich  literature  and  art  and  philosophy  of  antiquity  of  a  new 
content  of  life,  a  new  spiritual  substance,  more  gratifying 
than  the  arid  formalism  of  mediaeval  scholasticism,  and 
stimulating  to  revolt  against  the  mediaeval  asceticism,  even 
involving  much  skepticism  of  Christian  convictions.  The 
papacy,  robbed  of  power  but  opulent  for  the  support  of 
scholarship  and  art,  made  itself  the  patron  of  the  new  culture, 
incongruous  as  this  might  be,  with  all  that  the  papacy  had 
established  as  Christian.  The  scholars,  the  poets,  the 
artists  of  Italy  might  loyally  support  and  embellish  the 
papacy  which  gave  them  station  and  pension,  and  yet  be 
skeptical  or  indifferent  to  worship  and  doctrine;  but  when 
Englishmen  and  Germans  and  Netherlanders  appropriated 
this  new  culture,  they  fused  it  with  the  spirit  of  Christian 
ethics,  applied  it  to  the  study  of  the  Bible,  and,  as  Bible 
Christians,  began  to  talk  religion  in  the  terms  of  the  Gospels 
and  of  Paul's  Epistles,  contributing  in  their  turn  to  the 
anti-papal,  non-sacerdotal  movement  of  society.  The  union 
of  this  Humanism  with  the  devotion  of  the  northern 
mystics,  the  extension  of  this  now  devoutly  religious  new 
culture  to  popular  circles  in  the  North  by  the  Brothers  of  the 
Common  Life,  means  again  a  permeation  of  German  society 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH       353 

with  a  spirit  which  welcomed  and  fostered  the  Lutheran 
Reformation.  Those  who  were  not  of  this  mystical  devout- 
ness,  those  who  were  of  the  type  of  Erasmus,  were  at  least 
biblicists  freed  from  the  scholastic  trammels  and  in  practical 
ethical  protest  against  the  religion  of  priestly  sacraments. 
These  too  were  allies,  if  only  temporary  allies,  for  Luther's 
protest  against  the  papal  system. 

Through  evangelical  sects,  through  national  conflicts  with 
Roman  exactions,  through  the  emancipation  of  the  individual 
by  mysticism  or  by  Humanist  culture  or  by  a  blending  of  both 
the  northern  part  of  Europe  was  preparing  for  that  crisis  which 
arrived  in  15 17. 

XII.      SUGGESTIONS   TO   STUDENTS 

Knowledge  of  this  long  story  is  knowledge  of  a  supremely 
interesting  drama  where  the  better  and  the  worse  wrestle  for 
human  lives,  a  pageant  of  great  men  in  romantic  picturesque 
days,  a  process  of  evolution  where  we  may  have  glimpses  to' 
confirm  our  faith  in  a  Providence  shaping  our  ends,  rough- 
hew  them  as  we  will.  The  knowledge  may  yield  the  fruit  of 
wisdom  which  can  rightly  judge  and  interpret  men's  ideals 
and  methods  and  the  institutions  which  their  strivings  have 
built.  Such  wisdom  is  wealth  for  those  who  in  the  ministry 
of  religion  persuade  men  to  live  by  the  vision  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God. 

The  first  duty  is  to  know  the  story.  To  acquire  and 
retain  the  facts  which  enter  into  so  complex  a  story  a  proper 
method  is  required.  At  the  outset  we  should  obtain  a  rapid 
outline  survey  of  the  whole  and  then  study  the  subject  in 
more  intensive  detail.  The  outline  may  be  found  in  such 
brief  helps  as  the  following: 

J.  W.  Moncrief,  A  Short  History  of  the  Christian  Church  (Chicago: 
Revell,  1902);  Zenos,  Compendium  of  Church  History  (Philadelphia: 
Presbyterian  Board,  1900) ;  Sohm,  Kirchengeschichte  im  Grundriss  (Leip- 
zig:   Ungleich,   1893;    English  translation,  Outlines  of  Church  History 


354        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

[New  York:  Macmillan,  1895]);  Gusta.v  Kvueger,  Das  Papstum;  seine 
Idee  und  ihre  Trdger  (Tiibingen:  Mohr,  1907;  English  translation, 
The  Papacy:   The  Idea  and  Its  Exponents  [New  York:  Putnam,  1909]). 

It  is  also  advisable  to  study  the  table  of  contents  of  the 
larger  methodic  treatises  in  order  to  acquire  at  the  beginning 
a  clear  conception  of  the  proper  order  and  distribution  of 
topics.  The  only  profitable,  the  only  scientific,  knowledge  is 
knowledge  of  facts  in  their  systematic  relations,  and  the  effort 
so  to  construct,  as  we  learn  and  after  we  have  learned,  helps 
to  sustain  our  own  mental  activity  and  rescues  us  from  the 
danger  of  being  mere  passive  readers.  We  need  not  fear  that 
the  construction  borrowed  from  treatises  may  be  false,  since 
the  whole  period  has  been  thoroughly  worked  by  an  army  of 
scientific  investigators  and  has  been  so  long  discussed  that 
the  main  structure  of  this  knowledge  is  well  established. 

In  order  to  enjoy  the  fullest  independent  activity  of  mind 
the  student  should  conceive  himself  as  making  his  own 
textbook.  If  following  a  descriptive  course  in  a  uni- 
versity or  a  theological  school,  he  should  keep  ample  margins 
or  a  blank  page  in  his  notebook  for  the  insertion  of  material 
borrowed  from  collateral  reading.  If  pursuing  the  study  by 
himself,  he  may  profitably  construct  his  own  condensed  out- 
line by  the  aid  of  more  than  one  treatise  and  a  sufficient 
amount  of  source  material,  and  he  should  select  a  number  of 
topics  for  essays  which  may  embody  a  fuller  knowledge 
and  his  own  interpretation  of  the  significance  and  interest 
of  the  facts. 

Excellent  selections  from  sources  are  found  in  the  following:  H.  M. 
Gwatkin,  Selections  from  Early  Christian  Writers  (New  York:  Mac- 
millan, 1893).  (This  has  texts  and  translations.)  J.  C.  Ayer,  A 
Source  Book  for  Ancient  Church  History  (New  York:  Scribner,  1913). 
(The  most  complete  and  accurate  collection  of  translated  passages  indis- 
pensable for  exact  knowledge.)  Mirbt,  Quellen  zur  Geschichte  des  Papst- 
ums  (Leipzig:  Mohr,  1901).  (Latin  texts  illustrating  papal  history.) 
J.  H.  Robinson,  Readings  in  European  History,  Vol.  I  (Boston:  Ginn, 
1904).     (Good  bibliographies  and  informing  descriptions  of  sources,) 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH        355 

E,  F.  Henderson,  Select  Historical  Documents  of  the  Middle  Ages  (New 
York:  Macmillan,  1892). 

The  best  systematic  expositions  in  English  covering  the  whole  period 
are  the  following:  A.  H.  Newman,  Manual  of  Church  History,  Vol.  I 
(Philadelphia:  Baptist  Pub.  Soc,  1900).  (The  best  brief  treatment. 
It  has  good  bibliographies.)  Moeller,  Lehrbuch  der  Kirchengeschichte, 
Bd.  II  (Freiburg:  Mohr,  1893;  English  translation.  History  of  the 
Christian  Church,  Vols.  I  and  II  [New  York:  Macmillan,  1892  ff.]). 
(A  model  of  scholarship.)  Philip  Schaflf ,  History  of  the  Christian  Church, 
Vols.  I-IV  (New  York :  Scribner,  1891  ff.) .  (This  full  narration,  enriched 
with  material  of  concrete  interest,  is  completed  by  David  Schaff,  The 
Middle  Ages,  Vol.  V  [New  York:   Scribner,  1910]). 


VII.     THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION 

By  GEORGE  CROSS 
Professor  of  Systematic  Theology  in  Rochester  Theological  Seminary 


ANALYSIS 

I.  General  Considerations. — i.  Personal  influence — 2.  Social  in- 
fluences   and    economic    changes. — 3.    Political    developments. — 

4.  Intellectual  advance  and  unrest. — 5.  Moral  and  religious  growth   .     359-362 

II.  The  Course  of  the  Reformation 362-363 

III.  The  Lutheran  Reformation. — A.  The  Lutheran  Reformation 
in  Germanic  countries. — i.  The  establishment  of  Lutheranism  in 
Germany. — 2.  Stages  of  the  Lutheran  movement. — 3.  Significance 
of  the  Lutheran  Reformation. — B.  The  Lutheran  Reformation  in 
other  countries. — i.  Denmark,  Norway,  and  Sweden. — 2.  England, 
Scotland,  and  Holland. — 3.  In  several  countries  that  ultimately 
remained  Catholic. — C.  The  Lutheran  theology. — D.  Estimate  of 
Lutheranism 363-379 

IV.  The  Origin  and  Establishment  of  the  Reformed  Churches  . — - 
The  Zwinglian  reformation. — The  Calvinist  reformation. — A.  Cal- 
vinism in  Geneva. — -Founding  of  the  first  Protestant  theocracy. — 
B.  The  Calvinist  reformation  in  Scotland. — Founding  of  Scottish 
Presbyterianism. — John  Knox. — C.  The  Calvinist  reformation  in  the 
Netherlands. — D.  The  Calvinist  reformation  in  other  lands. — i.  France. 

— 2.  Germany. — 3.  Switzerland. — 4.  England. — D.  Retrospect  .        .     379-391 

V.  The  Reformation  in  England. — The  forces  and  conditions 
operative. — The  actual  establishment  of  the  English  church. — The 
work  of  the  Reformation  under  Edward  VI. — The  accession  of 
Elizabeth 392-396 

VI.  The  Anabaptist  Reformation. — i.  The  affiliations  of  the 
Anabaptist  movement. — 2.  Directions  of  development. — 3.  The  prin- 
cipal tenets  of  the  Anabaptists. — 4.  The  propagation  and  outcome. — 

5.  The  relation  of  Anabaptism    to  .the    Baptist,   Armenian,  and 
Quaker  movements  of  the  later  Protestant  period     ....     396-404 

VII.  The  Beginning  of  the  Disintegration  of  the  Protestant  Systems. 
— Some  pertinent  questions. — Controversies  between  Dissenters  and 
Churchmen.^A.  The  effect  of  the  Counter-Reformation  on  the  course  of 
Protestantism. — ^The  reason  for  the  Counter-Reformation. — The 
Society  of  Jesus  and  its  influence. — The  inner  nature  of  Jesuitism. — 
Propaganda. — The  Council  of  Trent. — B.  Undermining  of  Protestant 
orthodoxy  by  intellectualism. — i.  Rationalistic  criticism. — 2.  Skeptical 
reaction  caused  by  doctrinal  controversies  among  the  orthodox. — 
a)  Controversies  among  Lutherans. — b)  Controversies  between 
Lutherans  and  Calvinists. — c)  Controversies  among  Calvinists  in 
the  Netherlands. — d)  Calvinistic  controversies  in  England. — 3.  The 

■  discrediting  of  orthodoxy  through  the  progress  of  scientific  knowl- 
edge.— C.  Threatened  dissolution  of  the  Protestant  state  churches 
through  the  rise  of  the  Free  churches. — i.  Growth  of  the  Free-church 
ideal  in  England. — 2.  Presbyterianism. — 3.  The  Independents. — 
4.  The  Baptists.^ — C.  Summary  estimate  of  the  Protestant  Refor- 
mation        404-427 


VII.     THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION 

I.      GENERAL   CONSIDERATIONS 

The  Protestant  Reformation  was  a  general  upheaval  in 
the  life  of  the  peoples  of  Western  Europe  by  which  that  life 
was  partially  reconstructed  on  a  different  basis  and  the  way 
prepared  for  a  transition  from  the  mediaeval  to  the  modern 
order  of  society.  Like  all  great  revolutions,  it  was  a  cata- 
clysmic outcome  of  the  joint  working  of  many  forces  through 
long  periods  preceding  it.  A  thorough  study  of  the  Reforma- 
tion should  therefore  begin  with  an  examination  of  those 
influences.  Though  they  were  complicated  and  interwoven, 
for  purposes  of  examination  they  may  be  distinguished  as 
personal,  social,  economic,  political,  intellectual,  moral,  and 
religious. 

Literature. — A  good  review  of  the  situations  leading  to  the  Reforma- 
tion may  be  found  in  G.  B.  Adams,  Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages 
(New  York:  Scribner,  1900). 

1.  Personal  influences. — Pre-eminent  among  many  great 
names  are  those  of  John  Wycliffe,  the  Enghsh  reformer  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  and  his  followers,  John  Huss  of 
Bohemia  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  fellow-workers  and  -martyrs. 
The  work  of  these  men  had  a  profound  effect  on  the  social 
and  political  life  of  England  and  Central  Europe. 

Literature. — For  these  movements  the  following  works  may  be 
consulted:  G.  V.  Lechler,  John  Wiclif  aiuL  His  English  Precursors, 
translated,  and  the  sources  mentioned  there  (London:  Kegan  Paul, 
1878);  J.  Loserth,  Wiclif  and  Hus,  translation  (London:  Hodder  & 
Stoughton  Co.,  1884);  von  Liitzow,  The  Life  and  Times  of  Master  John 
Hus  (New  York:   E.  P.  Button  &  Co.,  1909). 

2.  Social  influences  and  economic  changes. — These  should 
be  studied  close  together:    the  effects   of   the   Crusades   on 

359 


360        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

trade  and  commerce,  the  growth  of  cities  and  city  govern- 
ment, the  formation  of  trading  guilds  and  secret  societies, 
the  breakdown  of  feudahsm,  the  decrease  of  serfdom,  the 
ambitions  of  the  peasantry,  the  appearance  of  the  free  wage- 
earner,  the  spirit  of  enterprise,  invention,  the  increase  and 
centrahzation  of  wealth,  the  minglings  of  the  people  through 
travel,  the  dissemination  of  knowledge  among  the  common 
people  by  means  of  the  printing-press,  the  growing  democratic 
feeling,  the  Black  Death,  and  millenarianism.  The  subject 
cannot  at  present  be  studied  thoroughly  under  any  one  author, 
though  many  writers  of  repute  have  referred  to  these  con- 
ditions at  some  length,  but  mainly  with  reference  to  conditions 
in  Germany. 

Literature. — Among  the  works  to  be  consulted  are:  G.  W.  Cox, 
The  Crusades  (New  York:  Scribner,  1874);  J.  M.  Ludlow,  Age  of  the 
Crusades  (New  York:  Scribner,  1900);  B.  Bax,  German  Society  at  the 
Close  of  the  Middle  Ages  (London:  Sonnenschein,  1894);  W.  Vogt, 
Die  Vorgeschichte  des  Bauernkrieges  (Halle:  Niemeyer,  1887);  Cam- 
bridge Modern  History,  I,  i,  iv;  Munroe,  Diehl  and  Prutz,  Essays  on 
the  Crusades,  (New  York:    Jax  Duffield  &  Co.,  1903). 

3.  Political  developments. — Here  one  should  study  the  new 
groupings  and  differentiation  of  the  peoples  after  the  Empire 
of  Charlemagne;  the  new  centers  of  power  with  the  dechne 
of  feudalism;  the  community  of  race,  language,  sentiment, 
and  geographical  boundaries,  favoring  the  establishment  of 
new  nations  with  kings  at  their  head;  the  opposition  to  the 
claims  of  the  German  imperial  authorities  and  the  Catholic 
church;  the  movements  toward  the  national  control  of  the 
territorial  churches.  The  national  ambitions  of  the  English, 
French,  and  Spanish  achieved  success,  while  the  national 
spirit  of  parts  of  Germany,  Italy,  the  Netherlands,  and 
Scandinavia  pressed  for  recognition  in  vain  for  the  time.  The 
disintegration  of  the  Empire  and  of-  the  church  alHed  with 
it  was  threatened. 

Literature. — For  a  view  of  the  political  situation  one  may  consult  the 
Cambridge  Modern  History;  R.  Lodge,  The  Close  of  the  Middle  Ages  (New 
York:  Macmillan,  1901). 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  361 

4.  Intellectual  advance  and  unrest. — The  conditions 
referred  to  above  were  necessarily  accompanied  by  the  out- 
burst of  new  ideas  and  of  a  spirit  of  revolt  against  traditional 
science,  philosophy,  and  religious  beliefs  in  general.  We  are 
to  observe  the  intellectual  ferment  that  followed  the  Crusades 
as  the  life  of  East  and  West  contended  and  mingled.  Arabian 
and  Aristotelian  philosophy,  Greek  literature  in  general, 
Roman  law,  the  recovery  of  a  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures 
and  their  translation  into  the  vernacular  of  the  peoples 
created  a  new  mental  atmosphere.  Modern  science  was  born 
with  Roger  Bacon.  Universities  were  founded  and  swarmed 
with  students — -not  all  of  them  by  any  means  for  the  priest- 
hood. Leadership  was  being  transferred  from  the  priests  to 
the  laity,  asceticism  was  being  discounted,  skepticism  was 
extending  to  the  church's  dogmas,  knowledge  of  truth  was 
coming  to  be  esteemed  above  the  possession  of  sacraments. 

Literature.— The  vast  literature  bearing  on  the  Renaissance  and 
Humanism  is  available  for  this  study.  See  Symonds,  The  Renaissance 
in  Italy  (London:  Smith  &  Elder,  1875-80);  Hallam,  Introduction  to 
the  Literature  of  Europe  (London:  Murray,  i860);  J.  Burckhardt,  The 
Civilization  of  the  Period  of  the  Renaissance,  translation  (London:  Sonnen- 
schein,  1890);  histories  of  European  universities;  the  works  of  Erasmus, 
More's  Utopia  and  Epistolae  Obscurorum  Virorum  are  illustrative  of  the 
spirit  of  the  Renaissance  and  Humanism. 

5.  Moral  and  religious  growth. — The  new  age  mani- 
fested its  character  pre-eminently  in  a  protest  against  the 
conventional  moral  standards  and  practices  and  religious 
beliefs.  All  the  other  currents  of  opposition  to  the  ancient 
or  mediaeval  institutions  found  their  focus  in  the  moral- 
religious  revolt  that  was  constantly  growing  in  force.  The 
church's  own  training  of  the  conscience  of  the  individual 
aroused  many  to  a  sense  of  abhorrence  of  its  practice  of 
compounding  moral  felonies  and  of  its  paganism.  The  shock 
of  Mohammedanism  is  to  be  taken  account  of  here.  More 
important  is  the  persistence  of  the  earlier  dissent  that  the 
Inquisition  had  failed  to  uproot.     Men  were  finding  it  possible 


362        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

to  live  the  higher  life  without  the  priest  or  the  church.  Faith 
and  pure  goodness  were  displacing  trust  in  ecclesiastical 
works. 

Literature.- — Among  the  works  to  be  consulted  on  this  subject  are: 
Harnack,  History  of  Dogma,  Vols.  VI  and  VII  (Boston:  Little,  Brown  & 
Co.,  1899);  A.  H.  Newman,  History  of  Antipaedobaptism  (Philadelphia: 
American  Baptist  Pub.  Soc,  1898);  Janssen,  Geschichte  des  deutschen 
Volkes  sell  dem  Ausgang  des  Mittelalters,  Vol.  I  (Freiburg:   Herder,  1897). 

II.   THE  COURSE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

It  is  open  to  the  student  to  trace  the  disruption  along 
various  lines,'  the  most  inviting  being  the  line  of  racial  and 
national  divisions  or  the  line  of  religious  and  doctrinal  cleavage. 
If  we  follow  the  former,  the  Catholic  church  can  be  seen 
withstanding  the  shock  most  successfully  in  the  lands  where 
the  ancient  Roman  Empire  had  been  most  firmly  established — 
as  parts  of  Austria,  Italy,  Spain,  Portugal,  France — and  the 
Reformation  meeting  its  greatest  success  in  lands  where  the 
Roman  influence  was  more  remotely  felt,  as  portions  of 
Germany,  Holland,  Britain,  Scandinavia,  Denmark.  In  so 
doing  the  other  line  of  cleavage  will  also  be  met,  and  in 
following  it  the  different  new  types  of  faith  and  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical order  will  appear,  as  Lutheran,  Zwinglian,  Calvinist, 
Anabaptist.  It  will  be  observed  how  at  one  time  the  political 
and  at  another  time  the  more  distinctively  religious  influence 
is  dominant,  and  how  again  a  number  of  influences  mingle 
indistinguishably.  The  theological  student  will  preferably 
follow  the  second  Une  of  division. 

The  period  of  time  has  no  strict  boundaries,  but  it  may 
conveniently  be  divided  into  two  parts,  the  first  extending 
from  the  time  when  the  various  forms  of  opposition  to  the 
Catholic  church  found  a  focus  in  the  national  life  of  several 
European  peoples  to  the  establishment  of  national  churches 
(say,  from  1517  a.d.  to  157 1  a.d.),  and  the  second  extending 
from  the  vigorous  beginnings  of  dissent  within  the  new  estab- 
lishments to  the  overthrow  of  Charles  I  of  England  and  the 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  363 

Peace  of  Westphalia  in  Germany  (say,  from  157 1  to  1648), 
when  dissent  and  the  power  of  the  demand  for  liberty  of  con- 
science had  got  beyond  control. 

Literature. — Among  the  many  works  which  treat  the  whole  subject 
the  following  may  be  especially  mentioned:  F.  Seebohm,  The  Era  of  the 
Protestant  Reformation  (New  York:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1893); 
Ranke,  History  of  the  Reformation  in  Germany  (translation,  1905), 
A.  H.  Johnson,  Europe  in  the  Sixteenth  Century,  I4g4-i5g8  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1900),  presents  the  chief  events  of  the  century  from  the 
political  point  of  view  mainly;  W.  Stubbs,  Lectures  on  European  History 
(London:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1904),  also  reviews  the  whole  period 
with  his  accustomed  skill;  W.  Walker,  The  Reformation  (New  York: 
Scribner,  1900),  attempts  the*  history  of  the  entire  movement  in  a  handy, 
small  volume;  the  Hibbert  Lectures  of  1883  by  C.  Beard,  The  Reformation 
of  the  Sixteenth  Century  in  Its  Relation  to  Modern  Thought  (London: 
Williams  &  Norgate,  1883),  reviews  the  progress  of  strife  in  the  field 
of  thought  during  this  period;  Hausser,  The  Period  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, 2  vols.,  translation  (London,  Strahan,  1873),  describes  the  po- 
litical struggles  of  the  time  from  the  German  point  of  view;  T.  M. 
Lindsay,  History  of  the  Reformation,  2  vols.  (New  York:  Scribner,  1906 
and  1907),  is  the  most  satisfactory  work  in  English  on  the  whole  move- 
ment and  is  indispensable  to  the  present-day  student. 

Earlier  works  on  the  subject  and  some  modern  works  are  written  too 
much  in  the  controversial  interest.  It  is  necessary  that  the  student 
should  cease  to  feel  under  any  obligation  to  idealize  the  Reformation. 
He  should  seek  to  find  out  just  what  happened  and  what  it  signified  at 
the  time  and  for  the  present,  if  he  is  to  obtain  an  unbiased  view.  The 
documentary  material  should  be  consulted  as  far  as  possible.  Much 
of  it  is  still  untranslated.  The  collection  of  Documents  Illustrative  of  the 
Continental  Reformation  by  B.  J.  Kidd  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  191 1) 
partly  meets  this  nped,  though,  unfortunately  for  the  unskilled  reader, 
the  documents  appear  mostly  in  the  original.  For  a  valuable  list  of 
references  and  documents  see  Gieseler,  Lehrbuch  der  neuen  Kirchen- 
geschichte  (Bonn:  Marcus,  1853;  English  translation,  Compendium  of 
Ecclesiastical  History,  I,  211  ff.  [London:  Hamilton,  1846-55]). 

III.      THE    LUTHERAN   REFORMATION 

The  movement  that  bears  the  name  of  Luther  has  two  main 
characteristics :  it  bears  the  stamp  of  the  personahty  of  Martin 
Luther,  and  its  formal  acceptance  was  substantially  confined 


364        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

to  the  Germanic  peoples — Germany,  Denmark,  and  Scandi- 
navia. However,  other  peoples  were  profoundly  affected  by 
Luther's  work,  though  its  thoroughly  Germanic  character 
prescribed  for  it  inevitable  limitations.  The  natural  divisions 
into  which  the  study  of  the  movement  falls  are  herewith 
given :  Lutheranism  in  Germanic  countries  and  Lutheranism 
in  non-Germanic  countries. 

A.      THE    LUTHERAN   REFGRMATIGN  IN   GERMANIC   COUNTRIES 

The  study  of  the  establishment  of  Lutheranism  as  a  state 
religion  should  begin  with  Germany  proper. 

I.  The  establishment  of  Lutheranism  in  Germany. — 
Three  preliminary  studies  are  essential  to  an  understanding  of 
the  trend  and  final  character  of  the  movement,  namely,  the 
German  imperial  political  system  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  the  personal  character  and  experiences  of 
the  man  Martin  Luther,  and  the  policy  of  the  papacy  at  the 
time. 

a)  The  imperial  political  system. — James  Bryce  in  The 
Holy  Roman  Empire  has  given  the  best  compact  account  of 
the  development  of  this  famous  conception  of  government  and 
of  the  way  the  theory  worked.  The  following  features  deserve 
special  consideration:  the  axiom  that  the  Empire  was  the 
counterpart,  ally,  and  support  of  the  Holy  Catholic  church; 
though  England,  Scotland,  France,  Spain,  Denmark,  and 
Sweden  were  nominally  part  of  it,  they  were  independent 
kingdoms  and  the  Empire  was  really  German;  the  imperial 
Diet  that  constituted  the  government,  with  an  emperor  at  its 
head,  was  composed  of  three  somewhat  discordant  elements, 
namely,  seven  electors  (later  eight) ,  who  chose  the  emperor,  and 
a  higher  and  a  lower  nobility,  both  lay  and  ecclesiastical;  each 
constituent  state,  down  to  the  smallest,  enjoyed  the  right  to 
make  war  on  its  own  account — hence  the  powerful  tendency 
toward  disintegration.  The  manner  in  which  these  conditions 
affected  the  course  and  ultimate  character  of  the  German 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  365 

Reformation  is  significant.  The  peculiar  relations  of  the 
imperial  house  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Reformation  are  to  be 
noticed:  the  Hapsburgs,  their  marriages  and  alliances  with 
the  houses  of  Spain  and  Burgundy  and,  indirectly,  with  that 
of  England;  the  jealousy  of  the  power  of  Emperor  Charles  V 
(King  Charles  I  of  Spain)  on  the  part  of  the  Pope,  the  kings 
of  France  and  England,  and  many  of  the  imperial  princes, 
and  their  willingness  to  use  the  religious  movement  for  political 
purposes;  the  offense  which  Spanish  dominance  gave  to  the 
rising  spirit  of  German  nationalism.  Thus  the  break-up  of 
the  Empire  and  the  break-up  of  the  church  went  together. 

b)  The  man  Luther. — Since  his  personality  dominated  the 
religious  side  of  the  Reformation  in  Germany,  the  explanation 
of  the  movement  lies  partly  in  him — the  son  of  Saxon  peasants, 
possessing  their  character,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  his  strong 
individualism  and  self-assertion.  His  early  career  at  school, 
susceptibility  to  the  appeals  of  mysticism  rather  than  to  the 
influence  of  Humanism,  and  the  religious  terror  that  drove  him 
to  the  monastery  largely  account  for  his  interpretation  of 
Christianity.  The  personal  influence  of  Staupitz,  vicar- 
general  of  the  Augustinian  order  of  monks,  and  the  assurance 
of  faith  that  sprang  up  in  this  connection  are  valuable  clues. 
His  life  as  priest  and  his  professorial  relations  with  the  new 
Saxon  University  of  Wittenberg  brought  him  into  contact  with 
the  demoralizing  work  of  the  sale  of  indulgences  and  into 
conflict  with  the  papacy. 

Literature. — For  one  who  would  gain  a  first-hand  acquaintance  with 
Luther  his  collected  works  should  be  studied  (Erlangen  and  Weimar 
editions  in  the  German) ;  also  his  letters,  Briefc,  5-vol.  ed.  by  De  Wette 
(Berhn:  Reimer,  1825-28).  The  Lutherans  in  All  Lands  Company- 
has  published  a  number  of  volumes  of  his  works  translated  into  English 
by  Lenker.  Lives  of  Luther  are  numerous.  The  following  may  be 
consulted:  Kostlin,  3d  ed.  (Elberfeld:  Friederichs,  1883;  English  trans- 
lation, Lutheran  Pub.  Soc,  1898);  Froude  (London:  Longmans,  Green, 
&  Co.,  1894);  McGiffert  (New  York:  Century  Co.,  191 1);  Preserved 
Smith  (Boston:   Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1911);    Grisar,  from  the  Jesuit 


366        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

point  of  view  (Freiburg:    Herder,  191 1;    English  translation,  London: 
Kegan  Paul  &  Routledge,  1913). 

c)  The  policy  of  the  papacy. — Three  of  its  features  claim 
chief  attention:  the  political  ambitions  and  alliances  of  the 
popes  immediately  preceding  the  outbreak  and  the  manner 
in  which  these  tied  the  hands  of  the  papacy  in  the  ensuing 
struggle;  the  extravagances  and  debts  of  Pope  Leo  X  and  the 
necessity  of  augmenting  the  revenues  of  the  papal  see  by 
extraordinary  means  on  account  of  the  jealousy  of  the  states 
of  Europe  and  their  parsimoniousness  toward  the  papal 
church;  and  the  development  of  the  whole  penitential  system 
of  the  church,  especially  the  confessional  and  indulgence. 

Literature. — For  the  last-mentioned,  Lea,  History  of  Auricular  Con- 
fession and  Indulgences  (Philadelphia:  Lea  &  Febiger,  1896),  is  indis- 
pensable. For  the  other  subjects  the  general  history  of  Europe  and  the 
history  of  the  papacy  should  be  reviewed. 

2.  Stages  of  the  Lutheran  movement. — For  convenience 
the  Lutheran  Reformation  up  to  the  establishment  of  the  Lu- 
theran church  in  Germany  may  be  divided  into  three  stages : 
first,  from  Luther's  first  emergence  in  public  opposition  to 
the  sale  of  indulgences  in  Germany  to  his  appearance  before 
the  Diet  at  Worms,  when  his  protest  became  a  matter  of 
imperial  politics;  secondly,  from  the  Diet  of  Worms  to  the 
organization  of  a  Lutheran  party,  known  as  Protestants,  in 
the  Imperial  Diet;  thirdly,  from  the  formation  of  this  Protes- 
tant party  to  the  legal  establishment  of  the  new  state  church 
when  the  Empire  was  split  in  two  along  ecclesiastical  lines. 
The  great  dates  are  1517,  1529,  1555,  marking  the  publication 
of  the  famous  Ninety-five  Theses,  the  open  organization  of  a 
Lutheran  party  in  the  Diet,  and  the  establishment  of  the 
new  church  within  the  Empire. 

a)  The  public  controversies. — The  first  stage  is  characterized 
by  public  controversies  over  the  questions  raised  by  Luther 
and  by  the  general  European  excitement  roused  by  them. 
The  great  documents  of  the  period  should  be  studied,  espe- 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  367 

cially  Luther's  Ninety-five  Theses  and  the  trio  that  followed, 
The  Liberty  of  a  Christian  Man,  To  the  Christian  Nobility  of 
the  German  Nation,  and  On  the  Babylonian  Captivity  of  the 
Church.  The  papal  attempts  to  suppress  Luther  through 
Cajetan,  Eck,  and  Miltitz  and  the  Disputation  at  Leipzig,  and 
the  course  of  the  proceedings  at  the  Diet,  indicate  the  depth 
and  breadth  of  the  influence  exerted  by  Luther  at  the  time. 
Luther's  Primary  Works  (London:  Hodder  &  Stoughton, 
1896),  edited  by  Wace  and  Buckheim  in  an  English  trans- 
lation, contains  these  documents.  The  influence  of  such 
Humanist  scholars  as  Erasmus  and  Melanchthon  in  sup- 
port of  Luther  is  to  be  noted. 

h)  The  ban  against  Luther. — The  second  stage  commences 
with  the  pronouncement  of  the  ban  of  the  Empire  against 
Luther.  Then  follows  the  accession  of  the  support  of  the  Elec- 
tor Frederick  of  Saxony  and  his  protection  of  Luther  at  the 
Wartburg,  the  continuation  of  the  controversy  by  Luther  in 
the  literary  works  produced  by  him  while  there,  the  attempt 
of  Pope  Hadrian  VI,  through  the  institution  of  certain  reforms, 
to  forestall  the  rising  demands  for  a  renovation  of  the  church, 
the  failure  of  the  Diet  of  Nuremberg  to  enforce  the  ban  of  the 
Empire  against  Luther,  and  the  clear  split  in  the  Diet  of 
Speyer  in  1524  into  two  German  parties,  Austria  and  Bavaria 
leading  a  Catholic  federation,  while  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  the 
Landgrave  of  Hesse,  and  the  Margrave  of  Brandenburg  led  a 
Lutheran  federation. 

The  Peasants'  War,  partially  an  outcome  of  the  influence 
of  Luther,  needs  careful  study  at  this  point.  Its  connection 
with  earlier  struggles  of  the  peasantry  of  Germany  for  fuller 
recognition  of  their  rights  is  to  be  noted.  The  noble  Twelve 
Articles,  in  which  they  set  forth  their  claims,  are  evidence  of 
the  presence  of  a  master  mind  among  them.  The  struggle 
became  fateful  for  Luther,  since  he  ultimately  took  the  side 
of  the  princes  against  the  peasants,  and  thereby  sealed  the 
fate  of  the  free  movement  which  he  had  inaugurated  and 


368        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

postponed  indefinitely  the  advent  of  democracy  in  Germany. 
The  connection  of  the  Peasants'  War  with  premillenial 
expectations  and  with  the  Anabaptist  movement  indicates 
the  presence  of  a  spiritual  factor  in  European  life  distinct  from 
that  which  obtained  legal  sanction  and  connected  inwardly 
with  the  dissenting  movement  in  Protestant  countries. 

Literature. — Vandam  and  Fisher,  Social  Germany  in  Luther's  Time 
(London:  Constable,  1902),  a  translation  of  the  memoirs  of  Barthol- 
omew Sastrow;  Bax,  The  Peasants'  War  in  Germany  (London:  Sonnen- 
schein,  1899);    Cambridge  Modern  History,  Vol.  II. 

The  play  of  general  European  politics  comes  in  at  this 
point.  The  relations  between  Emperor  Charles  V,  King 
Francis  I  of  France,  King  Henry  VIII  of  England,  the  Pope, 
and  the  Turks  complicated  the  situation  and  rendered  the 
emperor  helpless  against  Luther.  The  temporary  truce  with 
the  Protestants  on  the  basis  Cujus  regio,  ejus  religio  ("the 
religion  of  the  prince  shall  determine  the  religion  of  the  people 
of  his  territory"),  which  became  the  basis  of  the  final  peace 
long  afterward,  was  made  at  the  Diet  of  Speyer  in  1526.  To 
understand  this  it  is  necessary  to  examine  the  feudal  principles 
in  vogue  in  the  governments  of  the  German  states  and  to 
become  acquainted  with  the  part  the  Turks  had  been  playing, 
and  were  still  playing,  in  the  politics  of  Europe.  Charles's 
defeat  of  Francis  and  the  Turks  renewed  the  terrible  danger 
to  the  new  faith  and  resulted  in  the  famous  Protest  at  the 
Diet  of  Speyer  in  1529  which  gave  to  the  new  party  the  name 
of  Protestants.  The  Augsburg  Confession,  drawn  up  by 
Melanchthon  and  presented  in  1530  to  the  Diet,  should  be 
carefully  examined  at  this  point  for  a  knowledge  of  the  con- 
servative doctrinal  position  of  the  Protestants. 

Literature. — See  Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom,  4th  ed.,  Vol.  Ill  (New 
York:  Harper,  1905);  Kidd,  Documents  Illustrative,  etc.,  p.  259. 
See  also  Melanchthon's  Loci  Communis,  ed.  Kolde  (Leipzig,  Deichert, 
1890).  His  collected  works  were  published  at  Wittenberg,  1562-64. 
For  a  recent  account  of  him  read  J.  M.  Richard,  Philip  Melanchthon, 
the  Protestant  Preceptor  of  Germany  (New  York:   Putnam,  li 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  369 

The  Marburg  Conference. — The  distinctive  character  of 
the  Lutheran  movement  on  its  rehgious  and  doctrinal  side  is 
brought  out  more  fully  by  reference  to  the  abortive  conference 
at  Marburg  in  1529,  when  Lutheran  princes  attempted  to  find 
a  basis  of  union  with  the  Zwinglians  for  common  ecclesiastico- 
political  action  (for  Zwinghanism  see  below).  The  far- 
reaching  consequences  of  the  difference  between  Luther  and 
ZwingH  on  the  question  of  the  Supper  becomes  indicative  of 
two  widely  diverging  lines  of  Protestant  development — the 
Rationahst-Evangehcal  and  the  Protestant-Catholic,  the  one 
issuing  in  the  free  churches  and  rationalism  and  the  other  in 
the  sacramental  state  churches. 

c)  Lutheran  settlements  of  faith  and  polity. — The  third 
stage  is  the  stage  of  politico-ecclesiastical  and  military  con- 
flict. The  story  belongs  particularly  to  political  and  mihtary 
history.  The  significant  documents  are  the  Schmalkald 
Articles  drawn  up  by  Luther  as  the  basis  of  the  Schmalkald 
league  in  opposition  to  the  CathoHc  league,  the  Interim 
statement  issued  by  the  emperor  after  defeating  the  Protes- 
tants at  Miihlberg  in  1547  (a  year  after  Luther's  death), 
specifying  the  temporary  rights  to  be  enjoyed  by  the  Protes- 
tants, till  he  could  finish  with  them,  and  arousing  the  jealousy 
of  the  papacy  by  the  assumption  of  the  imperial  right  to 
dictate  terms  of  faith,  and  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  after  the 
Protestant  victory,  giving  the  Lutheran  faith  (and  no  other 
form  of  Protestantism)  a  legal  position  alongside  Cathohcism 
in  Germany  on  the  basis  Cujus  regio,  ejus  religio. 

In  this  connection  should  be  noted  the  special  proviso  in 
favor  of  Catholic  territories  known  as  the  Ecclesiastical 
Reservation,  because  it  reserved  to  Catholicism  the  territory 
belonging  to  a  prince  who,  having  formerly  been  a  Catholic, 
might  turn  Protestant.     See  Kidd,  Documents,  etc.,  pp.  319, 

358,  363- 

This  is  a  suitable  point  for  a  review  of  the  general  character 
of  the  Lutheran  Reformation,  with  its  mixture  of  conservatism 


370        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

and  radicalism,  for  a  survey  of  the  inner  religion  of  Luther  and 
his  theology,  and  for  an  estimate  of  his  services  to  the  German 
people  and  of  his  contribution  to  the  creation  of  their  nation- 
hood. 

The  German  Reformation  exhibits  in  its  variegated  and 
confusing  movements  the  uprising  out  of  feudalism  of  a 
nascent  national  consciousness  against  the  artificial  restraints 
imposed  upon  the  spirit  of  the  people  by  the  Empire  and  the 
Church.  This  new  national  spirit  found  its  highest  expression 
and  inspiration  in  Martin  Luther  and  in  his  semi-mystical 
religious  faith,  but  the  divisive  internal  condition  of  the 
country,  and  the  want  of  interest  in  the  intellectual  freedom 
represented  by  the  Renaissance  and  in  the  religious  freedom 
represented  by  the  Anabaptists,  prevented  a  clear  victory  over 
the  traditional  and  reactionary  forces.  In  non-German  coun- 
tries the  outcome  was  similar,  except  that  in  some  of  these 
Lutheranism  prepared  the  way  for  other  movements. 

3.  Significance  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation. — The  whole 
movement  in  Germany  may  be  reviewed  under  two  main 
heads,  its  political  side  and  its  spiritual  side.  On  the  poHtical 
side  a  thorough  reconstruction  on  a  constitutional  or  popular 
basis  was  rendered  impossible  at  the  time  and  for  centuries 
later,  on  the  one  hand  by  the  traditional  respect  for  the 
Empire  and  by  the  personal  prowess  of  an  emperor  who  was 
as  much  Spanish  as  German,  and  who  was  bent  on  subjugating 
national  aspirations  to  imperial  interests,  and  on  the  other 
hand  by  the  persistence  of  the  feudal  spirit  in  the  princes, 
by  their  lack  of  national  spirit,  and  by  their  selfish  desire — 
with  exceptions — to  enhance  their  own  authority  by  means  of 
the  religious  and  ecclesiastical  reformation.  Thus  the  move- 
ment as  a  whole  lacked  coherence  and  unity  of  aim.  Each 
little  state  drew  up  its  own  creed  and  its  ecclesiastical  system 
under  the  control  of  its  prince;  each  of  these,  again,  was 
jealous  of  the  others,  and  all  of  the  emperor.  No  great 
statesman   arose   to  bring  the  national  hopes   to   fruition. 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  371 

Luther's  own  support  of  the  princes  against  the  people  con- 
firmed the  fatal  tendency. 

On  the  distinctively  spiritual  side — ^i.e.,  in  religion,  morals, 
and  theology — ^there  was  better  progress ;  but  here  also  the 
combination  of  radicalism  and  conservatism  and  the  fencing- 
in  of  the  spirit  by  hereditary  forms  made  inevitable  either  a 
period  of  stagnation  or  future  outbreaks  of  inner  strife. 
The  manner  in  which  Luther's  invaluable  contribution  to  the 
life  of  Germany  was  checked  may  be  observed  somewhat  in 
detail: 

a)  As  respects  the  essence  of  all  religion,  i.e.,  the  free  com- 
munion of  the  human  spirit  with  God:  Luther  affirmed  the 
immediacy  of  the  action  of  divine  grace  upon  the  souls  of  men 
and  maintained  the  all-sufficiency  of  the  principle  of  inner 
faith  (trust)  for  the  fullest  participation  in  that  grace;  but 
he  never  got  clear  of  the  idea  of  the  necessity  of  the  action  of 
the  church  and  the  sacraments  for  its  impartation.  Conse- 
quently a  superstitious  sacramentalism  and  a  subjection  of 
reason  to  church  dogmas  continued. 

b)  As  respects  the  mutual  religious  communion  of  men: 
The  universal  priesthood  of  believers  was  affirmed  against  the 
pretensions  of  a  sacerdotal  order.  A  natural  corollary  would  be 
the  universal  right  of  believers  to  voluntary  association  and 
the  free,  spontaneous  utterance  of  personal  faith  for  mutual 
profit  and  fulfilment  of  fellowship;  but  the  deep-seated 
monastic  distrust  of  human  nature  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  dread  of  a  radical  democracy  on  the  other  side,  issued 
in  the  subjection  of  religious  communion  to  the  authority 
of  the  sovereign  civil  power. 

c)  As  respects  freedom  of  thought  and  its  place  in  religion: 
The  competency  and  right  of  each  human  mind  to  interpret 
revelation  (the  word  of  God)  for  itself  and,  therewith,  the 
necessity  of  a  free  criticism  of  all  utterances  purporting  to  be 
a  divine  message  were  accepted  in  principle  and  exercised  at 
times;     but    Luther's    inheritance    of    Catholic    intellectual 


372        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

timidity,  his  unsympathetic  attitude  toward  the  Renaissance, 
and  his  distrust  of  reason  combined  with  the  exigencies  of 
controversy  to  readmit  the  external  doctrinal  authority  of  the 
Bible  as  the  written  and  final  word  of  God  and  prepared  the 
way  for  the  later  withering  scholasticism  and  for  the  reinstate- 
ment of  legalism  in  religion. 

d)  As  respects  the  ideal  of  the  Christian  life:  In  place 
of  a  life  restricted  to  the  narrow  limits  prescribed  by  ecclesias- 
tical legislation  and  by  the  monkish  demand  for  world-flight 
Luther  held  to  the  free  outgoing  of  the  soul  to  its  self-chosen 
end  and  to  the  fulfilment  of  the  normal  tasks  of  life  in  the 
midst  of  natural  conditions,  such  as  the  family,  the  state, 
industry;  but  over  against  this  wholesome  view  he  held  to  the 
idea  of  a  universal  fall  of  nature  and  of  the  bondage  of  the  will. 
He  was  destitute,  accordingly,  of  positive  interest  in  science 
or  philosophy,  and  to  the  clear  idea  of  liberty  of  conscience 
and  political  freedom  he  never  attained.  On  these  lines 
Germany  was  held  back  for  centuries. 

e)  Over  and  above  these  defects  stand,  however,  indis- 
putable services  to  the  German  people  and  to  humanity: 
the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  popular  German  tongue 
(thereby  standardizing  it  and  really  making  it  the  language 
of  German  literature)  and  the  gift  of  the  Bible  to  the  people, 
thereby  insuring  the  continuance  of  the  work  of  the  earlier 
dissenters;  the  preparation  of  a  hymnody  expressive  of  the 
newer  and  fuller  religious  life,  of  religious  catechisms  for  the 
young  (thereby  preparing  the  way  for  the  famous  German 
educational  system) ,  and  of  a  system  of  order  for  the  churches 
and  equipment  for  the  priests;  finally,  the  cumulative  eiTect 
of  these  and  other  causes  in  the  creation  of  a  German  Protes- 
tant nation. 

Literature. — Kostlin,  The  Theology  of  Luther,  translation  (Lutheran 
Pub.  Co.,  1898),  is  a  standard  work  on  his  doctrinal  views.  Vedder, 
The  Reformation  in  Germany  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1914),  attempts, 
with  a  measure  of  success,  to  tell  the  whole  story  from  the  point  of  view  of 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  373 

the  social  interest.  For  the  literature  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation  see 
Newman,  Manual  of  Church  History,  II,  40  (Philadelphia:  American 
Baptist  Pub.  Soc,  1900);  Lindsay,  History  of  the  Reformation,  II,  189  f. 
(New  York:  Scribner,  1906);  Denize,  Luther  und'Luthertum,  II,  290  ff. 
(Mainz:   Kirchheim,  1909). 

B.      THE    LUTHERAN   REFORMATION   IN   OTHER   COUNTRIES 

The  idea  of  a  single  imperial  church  with  a  single  imperial 
state  as  its  complement,  by  reason  of  its  furthering  of  the 
sense  of  unity,  must  be  kept  in  mind  as  a  powerful  factor  in 
the  spread  of  Lutheran  ideas  among  the  peoples  of  Europe. 
Since  the  center  of  the  Empire  was  in  Germany  it  was  natural 
that  the  influence  of  the  Lutheran  movement  should  be  felt 
among  other  peoples  proportionately  to  their  racial  and 
spiritual  kinship  with  the  Germans.  We  may  thus  make  a 
threefold  division  of  the  countries  affected:  first,  those  in 
which  Lutheranism  became  the  form  of  religion  established  in 
the  state,  as  Denmark,  Norway,  and  Sweden;  secondly,  those 
in  which  it  prepared  the  way  for  a  Protestantism  of  a  different 
type,  as  England,  Scotland,  and  Holland;  thirdly,  those  in 
which  it  was  temporarily  powerful  but  ultimately  failed,  as 
France,  Spain,  Poland,  Bohemia,  Moravia,  and  Austria. 
The  study  of  the  Lutheran  reform  in  these  lands  tends  to 
bring  out  clearly  the  fact  of  the  complication  of  the  Christian 
religious  spirit  with  many  other  tendencies. 

I.  Denmark,  Norway,  and  Sweden. — The  student  should 
acquaint  himself  with  the  intimate  political  interrelations  of 
the  three  peoples  from  early  times,  their  political  union  in 
1397,  and  the  independence  of  Sweden  under  Gustavus  Vasa 
in  1523.  The  internal  political  condition  of  each  is  to  be 
noted — the  struggle  in  Sweden  between  the  nobility  and  the 
hierarchy  and  in  Denmark  between  the  crown  and  the  nobility, 
supported  by  the  bishops.  In  the  former  country  the  labors 
of  Olaf  and  Lars  Petersen  and  of  other  Lutheran  ministers 
with  the  support  of  the  king,  the  establishment  of  a  Lutheran 
episcopacy,  and  the  development  of  a  vigorous  Protestantism 


374         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

that  wrought  victoriously  in   the   struggles   of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War  are  the  points  of  chief  interest. 

Literature. — For  a  general  history  of  the  Swedes  consult  C.  F. 
Johnstone,  Abstracts  of  the  History  of  the  States  of  Europe  (London: 
Kegan  Paul,  1880) ;  for  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  Weidling,  Schwedische 
Geschichte  im  Zeitalter  der  Reformation  (Gotha:  Schloessmann,  1882); 
for  the  Reformation  itself,  Butler,  The  Reformation  in  Sweden  under 
Charles  IX  (New  York:  Randolph,  1883);  for  the  Swedish  church  from 
1500  to  the  present,  J.  Wordsworth,  The  National  Church  of  Sweden 
(Milwaukee:  Young  Churchman  Co.,  191 1). 

Denmark  led  Norway  and  Iceland.  In  Denmark  there  is, 
first,  the  failure  of  Christian  II,  nephew  of  the  Elector  Fred- 
erick the  Wise  of  Saxony,  to  follow  the  successful  efforts  of  his 
uncle  in  his  attack  on  the  clergy;  then  the  loss  of  his  king- 
dom to  another  uncle,  Frederick  I,  who  himself  became  a 
convert  through  the  Lutheran  preacher,  Hans  Tausen;  and, 
finally,  the  resultant  struggle  between  the  two  religious 
parties  and  the  accession  of  a  Protestant  son.  Christian  III, 
who  established  the  episcopal  Lutheranism  that  remains  to 
the  present  time  the  Danish  church. 

Literature. — For  the  general  history  of  these  lands  see  Johnstone, 
op.  cit.;  for  an  elaborate  ecclesiastical  history  of  Denmark  and  Norway 
to  the  time  of  the  Reformation  study  Miinter,  Kirchengeschichte  von 
Ddnemark  und  Norwegen,  3  vols.  (Leipzig:  Vogel,  1823-34);  F.  C. 
Dahlmann,  Geschichte  von  Ddnemark  (Hamburg:  Perthes,  1840-41);  for 
the  ecclesiastical  history  of  Norway  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  down- 
fall of  the  Catholic  church,  T.  B.  Willson,  History  of  Church  and  State 
in  Norway  (London:   Constable,  1903). 

2.  England,  Scotland,  and  Holland. — The  story  of  Luther- 
anism in  these  countries  is  only  a  part  of  the  story  of  the 
Reformation  there.  The  student  who  is  especially  interested 
in  the  Lutheran  Reformation  will  naturally  seek  to  estimate 
its  influence  on  these  countries.  He  will  find  much  difference 
of  opinion  and  must  content  himself  with  general  statements. 
Lutheranism  prepared  the  way  for  the  establishment  of  Cal- 
vinism in  the  two  latter  countries  and   for  the   somewhat 


THE  I'ROTESTANT  REFORMATION  375 

distinct  type  of  ecclesiastical  life  we  may  call  Anglicanism  in 
the  first. 

In  England. — An  independent  judgment  on  the  influence 
of  Lutheranism  can  be  reached  only  by  a  thorough  mastery  of 
the  history  and  genius  of  the  English  people  before  and 
during  the  Tudor  period  and  by  the  study  of  state  documents 
and  of  such  collections  as  Letters  and  Papers,  Foreign  and 
Domestic,  of  the  Reign  of  Henry  VIII;  Strype's  Annals  of  the 
Reformation  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1824)  and  Ecclesi- 
astical Memorials  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1822),  and  the 
works  of  the  English  theologians.  The  following  points  are 
of  special  interest:  the  knowledge  of  Luther's  work  in  Eng- 
land, the  relations  between  Henry  and  Luther,  the  influence  of 
the  state-church  arrangements  of  the  German  princes,  the 
effect  of  the  Schmalkald  War,  the  relations  with  Melanchthon 
and  other  German  theologians,  and  the  inspiration  given  to 
William  Tyndale  by  Luther's  translation  of  the  Bible.  The 
estimate  ofTered  by  Pollard  in  the  Cambridge  Modern  History, 
Vol.  II,  is  worth  noting. 

/w  Scotland. — Here  the  influence  of  Lutheranism  found  less 
support  from  earlier  domestic  reforming  movements,  though 
Lollardy  was  at  work.  The  Lutheran  influence  is  mainly 
traceable  in  the  career  of  the  fi.rst  martyr,  Sir  Patrick  Hamil- 
ton, of  George  Buchanan,  of  George  Wishart,  and  in  the  earlier 
activities  of  John  Knox. 

Literature. — Materials  are  found  in  Fox's  Acts  and  Monuments,  new 
and  complete  ed.  (London:  Seeley  &  Burnside,  1837-41);  the  Collected 
Works  of  John  Knox  (Edinburgh:  Wodrow  Soc,  1857).  The  career  of 
Hamilton  is  set  forth  in  Lorimer,  Precursors  of  Knox  (Edinburgh: 
Hamilton,  1857). 

In  Holland. — The  Lutheran  movement  in  the  Netherlands 
is  closely  connected  with  the  determined  but  unsuccessful 
attempt  of  Emperor  Charles  V  to  subdue  dissent. 

Literature. — Among  the  many  accounts  the  most  interesting  to  the 
American  student  will  be  Motley's  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic  (New  York: 


376         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Harper,  1867).  Even  more  valuable  is  P.  J.  Blok,  History  of  the  People 
of  the  Netherlands,  5  Vols.  (New  York  and  London:  Putnam,  1898- 
1912).  The  story  of  the  first  Lutheran  martyrs  of  the  Netherlands, 
Henry  Voes  and  John  Esch,  is  told  by  Brandt,  The  History  of  the  Refor- 
mation, Vol.  I  (London:   T.  Woode,  1720). 

3.  In  several  countries  that  ultimately  remained  Catholic. 

— In  many  parts  of  Europe  the  Lutheran  movement  roused 
numbers  of  the  people  to  new  or  renewed  efforts  to  break  away 
from  the  papal  church,  but  through  the  lack  of  moral  energy 
or  of  religious  depth  or  through  unfavorable  political  or 
social  or  economic  conditions  their  efforts  fell  away  or  were 
overthrown  by  a  reactionary  movement.  The  study  of  these 
struggles  belongs  ultimately  to  the  study  of  the  Counter- 
Reformation.  However,  in  an  inquiry  into  the  history  and 
character  of  Lutheranism  the  following  suggestions  may  be 
followed  at  this  point: 

In  France.— Attention  should  be  given  to  the  work  of 
Bishop  Brigonnet  of  Meaux,  Jacques  Lefevre  d'Estaples 
{Faher  Stapulensis) ,  and  Jean  Leclerc,  the  martyr  of  1525. 
Perhaps  more  important  are  the  attitude  and  political  ambi- 
tions of  King  Francis  I,  who,  notwithstanding  his  patronage 
of  the  scholars  of  the  Renaissance  and  his  political  support  of 
the  German  Protestants,  sought  rather  to  weaken  the  power 
of  Emperor  Charles  V  than  to  encourage  the  new  religious 
movement  in  his  own  realm.. 

Literature. — H.  M.  Baird,  History  of  the  Rise  of  the  Huguenots, 
especially  chaps,  ii-v  (London:  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1880),  should  be 
read  for  a  knowledge  of  the  whole  situation. 

In  Spain. — Here  the  influence  of  Lutheranism  on  the 
religious  views  of  Emperor  Charles  V  (King  Charles  I  of  Spain) 
and  on  the  Spaniards  whom  he  brought  into  Germany  is  of 
some  significance.  Chief  interest  centers  in  the  evangelicals 
and  martyrs  of  Seville  and  Valladolid  and  in  the  overbearing 
effect  on  the  Spanish  character  of  the  long  struggle  with 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  377 

Mohammedanism,   which  gave   to   Spain   the  political  and 
military  leadership  of  Europe. 

Literature. — Of  the  somewhat  extensive  literature  on  the  subject 
the  following  may  be  named:  Lea,  Chapters  from  the  Religious  History 
of  Spain  (Philadelphia:  Lea  &  Febiger,  1890);  Prescott,  History  of  the 
Reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  History  of  the  Reign  of  the  Emperor 
Charles  V  (Philadelphia:  Lippincott,  1872  and  1873);  Betts,  translations 
of  various  works  of  Spanish  reformers  (London:   Triibner,  1869-83). 

In  Italy. — Here  the  Lutheran  influence  did  not  go  very  far 
on  its  religious  side,  but  it  strengthened  the  spirit  of  the 
Renaissance  and  the  rationalistic  trend  in  Italian  spiritual 
revolt.  One  may  note  the  revival  of  interest  in  the  works 
of  Augustine,  the  translations  of  the  Bible  and  of  the  works  of 
Lutheran  theologians,  the  friendship  of  the  Duchess  Renata 
of  Ferrara,  and  the  abortive  conference  at  Regensburg. 

Literature. — McCrie,  History  of  the  Progress  and  Suppression  of  the 
Reformation  in  Italy  (Edinburgh:  Blackwood,  1827),  is  an  old  book  but 
valuable  for  a  general  survey. 

In  Poland,  Bohemia,  and  Moravia. — In  these  countries 
Lutheranism  was  temporarily  powerful,  and  less  so  in  Hungary 
and  several  provinces  of  Austria,  as  the  Tyrol,  Salzburg, 
Styria,  and  Carinthia.  Emphasis  is  to  be  placed  on  the  rela- 
tion to  mediaeval  dissenting  bodies,  as  Hussites  and  Bohemian 
Brethren,  and  to  the  preparatory  relation  to  later  Reforma- 
tion movements,  as  anti-Trinitarianism,  Anabaptism,  and 
Calvinism. 

C.      THE    LUTHERAN   THEOLOGY 

The  best  index  to  the  character  of  the  Lutheran  Refoma- 
tion  on  its  religious  and  intellectual  side  is  found  in  its  theology. 
This  is  to  be  studied,  as  to  its  method  genetically,  and  as  to 
its  content  or  form. 

I.  Augustinian  sources. — Genetically:  First,  the  Lutheran 
theology  is  to  be  traced  to  the  Augustinian  interpretation  of 
Christianity  by  which  Luther,  being  an  Augustinian  monk,  was 
deeply  influenced.     This  can  be  seen  especially  in  his  doctrines 


378        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  sin,  grace,  bondage  of  the  will,  election.  Secondly,  the 
monastic  life,  and  the  works  of  the  mediaeval  mystics  with 
which  Luther  was  familiar,  produced  the  mystical  view  of 
salvation  as  an  experience  overriding  the  claims  of  reason 
and  introduced  a  realistic  view  of  the  human  relation  to  the 
Redeemer  and  that  immediacy  of  assurance  of  the  truth  of  the 
revelation  that  had  come  to  him  which  enabled  him  to  set  his 
personal  convictions  over  against  all  authority.  Thirdly, 
his  training  in  Catholic  modes  of  thought  produced,  some- 
what in  opposition  to  the  other  tendencies  above  men- 
tioned, that  habit  of  resting  on  the  letter  of  the  Scriptures 
and  that  dependence  on  sacraments  which  was  never  shaken 
off.  J'ourthly,  the  distinctive  personality  of  the  man  Luther, 
so  original  and  so  powerful,  gave  to  all  his  views  a  peculiar 
stamp  and  impressed  his  convictions  on  multitudes. 

2.  Method. — The  method  of  Luther's  theology  was  varied 
and  irregular.  His  churchly  training  and  his  literalism  com- 
bined with  a  natural  self-assertion  to  establish  the  dogmatical 
method.  With  this  was  combined  a  spirit  of  free  criticism, 
especially  as  to  religious  values,  which  enabled  him  to  use 
the  Bible  as  a  work  of  devotion  and  inspiration  rather  han 
as  an  external  authority,  and  to  set  a-going  a  powerful 
impulse  toward  a  truly  religious  view  of  revelation  and  life. 
But  he  never  attained  to  the  historical  method  of  investiga- 
tion and  interpretation  and  often  fell  into  mere  allegorizing 
after  the  long-established  method  of  the  Catholic  theologians. 

3.  Content. — The  content  of  Lutheran  Theology,  especially 
after  Melanchthon  gave  it  form  and  moderated  its  tone,  was 
mainly  Catholic  in  form  and  somewhat  so  in  spirit,  the  doc- 
trines of  grace  and  faith  and  the  reduction  of  the  sacramental 
view  of  salvation  to  narrower  limits  being  most  in  evidence. 
For  the  specific  doctrines  of  Lutheranism  consult  the  authori- 
ties named  below. 

Literature. — For  documentary  sources  of  Luther's  theology  the  stu- 
dent may  consult  the  Erlangen  edition  of  his  collected  works  (1S26-27); 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  379 

his  Brief e,  ed.  DeWette  (Berlin:  Reimer,  1825-28);  Melanchthon's  Loci 
Communes,  ed.  Kolde  (Leipzig:  Deichert,  1890),  and  the  Lutheran  stan- 
dards in  Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom,  Vol.  Ill  (New  York:  Harper, 
1877,  4th  ed.,  1905). 

Brief  expositions  of  Lutheran  doctrine  are  given  in  Fisher,  History 
of  Christian  Doctrine  (New  York:  Scribner,  1901);  Harnack,  Dogmen- 
geschichte.  III,  725-814  (Freiburg:  Mohr,  1897;  English  translation, 
VII,  180  ff.  [Boston:  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  1900]).  The  best  exposition 
in  extenso  is  Kostlin,  The  Theology  of  Luther,  translated  by  Hay  (Phila- 
delphia:   Lutheran  Pub.  Soc,  1897). 

D.      ESTIMATE   OF   LUTHERANISM 

This  may  proceed  on  several  lines,  e.g. :  first,  its  religious 
value,  especially  its  effect  on  the  higher  religious  life  of  Ger- 
many; secondly,  its  influence  on  morals,  especially  the 
effect  at  that  time  of  removing  external  restraints  on  those 
accustomed  to  them,  and  the  later  effects;  thirdly,  the  intel- 
lectual power  of  the  movement,  especially  the  extent  to  which 
it  carried  forward  the  impulse  of  the  Renaissance  and  devel- 
oped a  deeper  interest  in  education  and  general  intelligence; 
fourthly,  its  destructive  and  constructive  work  in  the  field  of 
religious  doctrine;  fifthly,  its  relation  to  religious  liberty, 
particularly  in  reference  to  the  Anabaptists  and  to  the  creation 
or  toleration  of  free  dissent;  sixthly,  its  part  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  national  spirit  of  Germany  in  particular  and  of 
Europe  in  general,  and  the  type  of  civil  government  to  which  it 
is  most  nearly  akin. 

Literature. — For  instances  of  contrary  estimate  see  Lindsay,  History 
of  the  Reformation,  Book  II,  chap,  vii  (New  York:  Scribner,  1905),  and 
'Newma.n,  Manual  of  Church  History,  II,  115  ff.  (Philadelphia:  American 
Baptist  Pub.  Soc,  1900-1903). 

IV.      THE  ORIGIN  AND  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  REFORMED 
CHURCHES 

The  name  Reformed  churches,  or  churches  of  the  Re- 
formed, pertains  to  a  number  of  the  new  religious  organiza- 
tions of  the  Reformation  that  were  Protestant  but  differed 


380        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

from  Lutheranism  in  important  features  and  continued 
separate  from  both  Lutherans  and  Cathohcs.  In  spirit,  in 
order,  in  worship,  in  doctrine,  in  government,  and  in  relation 
to  the  civil  power  they  were  distinct.  They  were  also  more 
cosmopolitan  than  the  Lutheran  church  and  found  a  home 
early  in  Switzerland,  Holland,  Scotland,  in  many  parts  of  the 
Empire,  for  a  time  in  France,  to  a  degree  in  England,  and  at 
last  in  the  United  States  of  America.  A  knowledge  of  this 
movement  demands  a  prolonged  and  involved  study  of  con- 
ditions in  many  lands. 

A  twofold  origin  of  the  Reformed  church  can  be  traced, 
though  the  two  streams  coalesced,  namely,  in  the  work  of 
Huldreich  Zwingli  and  in  that  of  John  Calvin,  both  first 
established  in  Switzerland,  the  former  contemporary  with 
Luther  and  the  latter  a  generation  later.  The  study  will 
proceed  best  by  countries. 

Our  first  study  must  be  the  history  of  the  Swiss  people 
to  the  time  under  consideration,  their  characteristics,  and 
their  method  of  government.  Their  geographical  situation, 
the  physical  features  of  their  country,  their  racial  diversities, 
their  relations  with  other  people,  their  achievement  of  political 
independence  by  warfare,  the  degree  to  which  they  came  under 
the  influence  of  the  Renaissance  and  of  such  mediaeval 
dissenters  as  the  Waldenses,  the  industry,  simplicity,  and 
thrift  for  which  they  were  noted,  are  all  important  factors  in 
the  reformation  of  religion.  Domestic  political  conditions,  the 
local  democracies  (cantonal  self-government),  the  loose  con- 
federacy in  which  thirteen  urban  cantons  and  four  ''forest" 
cantons  were  united,  the  inner  differences  among  these,  espe- 
cially in  intelligence,  are  to  be  recognized  as  determining  the 
final  form  in  which  the  Reformation  was  set  up  or  the  rejection 
of  it.  They  also  partly  explain  the  early  success  and  the 
final  overthrow  of  the  Anabaptist  propaganda  there. 

Literature. — Seebohm  and  Johnson,  as  above  (p.  363),  and  the 
general  church  histories.     For  a  more  elaborate  knowledge  use  Joseph 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  381 

Planta,  History  of  the  Helvetic  Confederacy,  3  vols.  (London:  Stockdale, 
1800-1807).  ' 

The  Reformation  in  Switzerland  arose  mainly  in  two 
centers,  Zurich  and  Geneva — the  movement  in  the  former 
under  the  leadership  principally  of  Huldreich  Zwingli  and  in 
the  latter  under  the  leadership  principally  of  John  Calvin. 
The  account  of  each  is  inseparable  from  the  personal  career  of 
the  leaders. 

THE   ZWINGLIAN   REFORMATION 

The  character  and  career  of  Zwingli. — His  family,  his 
education  at  Bern,  Basel,  and  Vienna,  the  influence  of  the 
New  Learning  on  him  through  such  men  as  Erasmus  and 
Thomas  Wyttenbach  and  his  strong  intellectual  revulsion 
against  popular  Catholic  superstitions,  his  close  attention  to 
biblical  and  classic  studies  during  his  priesthood  at  Glarus  and 
Einsiedeln,  his  chaplaincy  of  a  mercenary  Swiss  regiment 
campaigning  in  Italy,  and  his  resolute  patriotic  stand  against 
the  mercenary  practice  are  the  features  of  importance  in  his 
pre-reforming  career. 

His  great  pastorate  at  Zurich  and  his  public  controversies, 
by  the  appointment  of  the  civil  authorities,  with  the  upholders 
of  indulgence-selling,  ecclesiastical  tithing,  celibacy,  fasts, 
image-worship,  papal  primacy,  the  mass,  saint-worship,  purga- 
tory, and  such  practices  gave  him  the  leadership  of  the  new 
movement.  The  resulting  civil  establishment  of  the  Re- 
formed faith  as  set  forth  in  Zwingli's  Sixty-seven  Articles 
and  the  rejection  of  the  radical  program  of  the  Anabaptists, 
followed  by  the  pubHc  prosecution  and  cruel  punishment  of 
these  people,  complete  the  movement  in  Zurich. 

Thence  the  interest  widens  to  the  whole  extent  of  the 
Swiss  confederacy  and  brings  the  Zwinglian  Reformation 
directly  into  contact  with  general  European  pohtics  and  the 
Lutheran  Reformation.  The  progress  of  Zwinghanism, 
modified  somewhat  in  other  places  by  its  contact  with  reform- 
ing efforts  already  at  work  elsewhere  in  Switzerland,  brings  to 


382         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

our  attention  the  names  of  Leo  Judaeus,  Conrad  Grebel,  and 
Balthazar  Hubmaier  (the  two  latter  to  be  known  later  as 
Anabaptists)  at  Zurich;  the  city  of  Bern,  and  the  work  of 
John  and  Berthold  Haller  and  Sebastian  Meyer;  Basel,  where 
the  work  of  Erasmus  and  Wyttenbach  is  carried  farther 
by  Capito  and  Hedio,  later  by  William  Reublin,  and  finally  by 
Oecolampadius ;  St.  Gall  and  Appenzell,  and  the  work  of 
Vadianus;  Schaffhausen,  which  adopted  the  Reformation 
under  the  influence  of  Sebastian  Hofmeister  and  Sebastian 
Meyer;  the  Graubiinden,  where  John  Comander  persuaded 
the  mixed  population  to  accept  an  established  church  which 
tolerated  both  Zwinglians  and  Catholics,  but  not  Anabaptists; 
and  at  length  many  cities  of  Southwestern  Germany,  such  as 
Augsburg,  Strassburg,  and  Frankfurt,  which  accepted  the 
Reformed  faith  and  became  centers  of  great  power  for  the 
spread  of  the  whole  Protestant  Reformation. 

The  relations  of  similarity  and  contrast  with  Lutheranism 
can  be  brought  out  by  a  study  of  the  invitation  given  to  the 
leaders  to  meet  in  conference,  looking  to  a  union  in  a  com- 
mon religious  and  political  effort  at  Marburg,  the  colloquy 
between  Luther  and  Zwingli,  and  the  failure  to  unite.  The 
outcome  as  regards  the  standing  of  the  Reformed  church  and 
the  Catholic  church  in  Switzerland  at  large  appears  in  the 
two  wars  of  Cappel  and  in  the  Peace  of  Cappel,  so  disappoint- 
ing to  Zwinglians. 

Literature. — There  is  much  material  to  examine.  A  general  view 
of  the  Renaissance  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  and  its 
influence  on  the  Swiss  reformers  can  be  obtained  from  the  Cambridge 
Modern  History,  Vol.  I,  or  Paul  Van  Dyke,^ge  of  the  Renaissance  (New 
York:  Scribner,  1897).  Zwingli's  life  and  doctrines  are  pretty  fully 
exhibited  in  the  histories  of  the  Reformation.  S.  M.  Jackson's  Huldreich 
Zwingli,  the  Reformer  of  Switzerland  (New  York:  Putnam,  1901)  and  The 
Latin  Works  and  Correspondence  of  Huldreich  Zwingli  (New  York: 
Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  191 2)  are  valuable.  A.  Baur,  in  Zwinglis 
Theologie  (Halle:  Niemeyer,  1885-89),  sets  forth  the  Reformer's  doctrine 
at  length.     Zwinglii  Opera  are  edited  in  German  and  published  in  eight 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  383 

volumes  (Schultess:  Zurich,  1828-42).  Strickler,  Actensammlung  zur 
schweizerischen  Rejortnationsgeschichte  in  den  Jahren  1521-1532,  5  vols. 
(Zurich:  Meyer  &  Zeller,  1878-84),  gives  the  most  complete  historical 
material. 

The  student  should  seek  to  apprehend  the  peculiar  signifi- 
cance of  Zwinglianism  by  a  comparison  with  Lutheranism  on 
such  points  as  the  following:  the  comparative  influence  of 
mysticism  and  rationalism  on  Luther  and  Zwingli;  their 
respective  attitudes  as  regards  the  relation  of  the  religious 
reformation  to  the  authority  of  the  civil  power;  the  breadth 
of  human  sympathy  and  of  doctrine  in  each;  their  attitude 
toward  sacraments;  their  influence  on  the  growth  of  a  broad 
intelligence  and  of  a  courageous  view  of  the  world  and  the 
future  of  men. 

Literature. — Schaff  gives  some  interesting  suggestions  in  his  history 
of  the  Swiss  Reformation,  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  Vol.  VII 
(New  York:    Scribner,  1884-1907). 

THE   CALVINIST   REFORMATION 

There  are  certain  preliminary  considerations  necessary 
to  the  study  of  the  Calvinist  Reformation.  First,  it  began 
about  a  generation  later  than  the  Lutheran  and  Zwinghan 
movements  and  profited  by  them  as  well  as  by  the  earlier 
work  of  such  men  as  William  Farel;  it  became  naturally 
better  organized  than  these  and  represented  a  higher  stage 
of  the  Protestant  consciousness  and  also  a  more  advanced 
organization  of  the  new  religious  forces.  Calvinism  is 
Protestantism  clearly  self-conscious  and  organized  for  aggres- 
sion. Secondly,  it  bears  the  stamp  of  the  man  by  whose  name 
it  is  known — of  Calvin's  French  thoroughness  and  intellectu- 
ality, his  moral  sternness,  legal  training,  intolerance  of  opposi- 
tion, leaning  to  aristocracy  or  despotism,  vast  learning, 
bibhcism,  and  acquaintance  with  and  interest  in  the  poHtical 
life  of  Western  Europe.  To  understand  Calvinism  it  is 
emphatically  necessary  to  know  the  man  in  his  relation  to 


384        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION    , 

earlier    and    contemporary    European    politics    and    to    the 
earlier  an ti- Catholic  movements. 

Literature. — Lives  of  Calvin  are  numerous.  The  student  should 
know  Beza's  Life  of  Calvin,  translation  by  Gibson  (Philadelphia:  Whet- 
ham,  1836);  Henry's  famous  life  of  Calvin,  Das  Leben  Johann  Calvins 
(Hamburg:  Perthes,  1835-38;  English  translation  [documents  omitted] 
by  Stabbing  [New  York:  Carter,  1859]).  Among  the  later  lives,  H.  Y. 
Reyburn,  John  Calvin,  His  Life,  Letters  and  Work  (New  York:  Hodder 
'&  Stoughton,  1914),  and  L.  Penning,  Life  afid  Times  of  Calvin  (London: 
Kegan  Paul,  19 12),  are  valuable,  the  former  being  especially  discriminat- 
ing and  the  latter  a  tribute  of  high  regard.  Nevertheless,  in  contrast  with 
the  case  of  Luther,  it  is  not  so  much  the  man  as  the  theologian  and  states- 
man that  interests  us  in  Calvin.  His  Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion 
(Edinburgh:  Calvin  Translation  Soc,  1845-46)  is  the  classic  of  Reforma- 
tion theology  and  his  church-state  at  Geneva  the  model  of  contemporary 
and  of  later  Protestant  ecclesiastical  organization.  See  Doumergue, 
Jean  Calvin,  les  hommes  et  les  choses  de  son  temps  (Lausanne:  Bridel, 
1899-1908).     We  follow  his  work  by  countries. 

A.      CALVINISM   IN   GENEVA — FOUNDING   OF   THE   FIRST   PROTESTANT 
THEOCRACY 

As  introductory  to  the  study  there  should  be  a  knowledge 
of  the  situation  and  general  relations  of  the  three  French- 
speaking  Swiss  cantons,  Geneva,  Vaud,  and  Neuchatel. 
The  limited  territory  of  Geneva,  its  relations  with  the  house  of 
Savoy,  the  rise  of  a  popular  patriotic  party  (Eidgenots, 
Huguenots,  Eidgenossen) ,  the  supremacy  of  the  idea  of  liberty 
rather  than  of  morality,  the  constitution  of  the  three  councils 
that  governed  the  little  state,  and  the  asserted  overlordship 
of  Bern  constitute  the  main  elements  of  the  situation  prior 
to  the  Reformation. 

Literature. — Consult  Roget,  Histoire  du  peuple  de  Geneve,  7  vols. 
(Geneva:  JuUien,  1870-83). 

Preparatory  to  Calvin's  religious  and  theological  reform 
came  the  work  of  William  Farel  of  Provence,  Antoine  Froment, 
his  fellow-countryman,  and  Peter  Viret,  of  Vaud,  with  its 
stern  religiousness  and  violent  iconoclasm. 

Literature. — See  Herminjard,  Correspondance  des  reformateurs  dans 
les  pays  de  la  langue  franqaise,  etc.  (Paris:  Fischbacher,  1866-97). 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  385 

Calvin's  arrival  in  the  city  and  his  first  abortive  attempts  to 
establish  a  uniform  confession  of  faith  and  stern  moral  dis- 
cipline, with  severe  civil  penalties  for  the  heretical  and  the 
immoral,  compulsory  attendance  on  public  worship,  educa- 
tion and  religious  catechizing  of  children,  and  obedience  in 
religion  to  the  ministers  brought  out  the  inner  antagonism 
between  the  Reformers  and  the  Libertines;  and  the  despotism 
of  the  former  issued  in  their  expulsion.  This  episode  serves 
to  bring  out  the  underlying  intolerance  in  Calvinism  and  might 
serve  as  a  starting-point  for  a  study  of  the  struggle  within 
Calvinism  between  the  Judaistic  elements  and  the  Christian 
elements  in  it. 

Calvin's  sojourn  in  Strassburg  from  1538  to  1542,  by 
bringing  him  into  intimate  relations  with  Protestant  refugees 
from  France  and  other  lands,  and  by  giving  him  leisure  for 
friendly  correspondence  with  Luther  and  his  great  colleague, 
the  theologian  Melanchthon,  and  for  the  enlargement  of 
his  Institutes,  the  writing  of  a  commentary  on  Romans,  the 
preparation  of  an  elaborate  scheme  of  church  order,  and  the 
carrying  on  of  controversies  with  Catholic  leaders  is  to  be 
viewed  as  the  beginning  of  his  remolding  influence  on  Luther- 
anism  and  of  the  extension  of  his  personal  view  throughout 
Western  Europe.  The  study  of  the  "  Crypto-Calvinist " 
controversy  among  the  Lutherans,  relating  especially  to  the 
Lord's  Supper,  indicates  the  character  of  the  Calvinist  influ- 
ence on  Lutheran  doctrine. 

Literature. — Such  documents  as  the  Augsburg  Variata,  the  Apology 
for  the  Augsburg  Confession,  and  other  documents  published  in  the 
Corpus  Doctrinae  Philippum  after  the  death  of  Melanchthon,  indicate  the 
extent  of  the  controversy.  The  Formula  of  Concord  (see  Schaflf,  Creeds 
of  Christendom,  Vol.  Ill),  by  which  the  Lutheran  theologians  tried  to 
settle  these  and  other  disputes,  should  be  examined  in  this  connection. 
See  also  Schaff,  "The  Friendship  of  Calvin  and  Melanchthon,"  Papers 
of  the  American  Society  of  Church  History  (1889). 

Calvin's  recall  to  Geneva  and  the  work  of  the  twenty-two 
remaining  years  of  his  life  there  brought  into  being  the  cast- 
iron  system  of  religious  and  civil  control  for  which  Geneva 


386        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

became  famous,  and  supplied  to  Europe  the  needed  demonstra- 
tion of  the  ability  of  Protestantism  to  establish  an  order  of 
faith  and  of  moral  and  political  life  which  became  a  standing 
proof  that  it  was  not  simply  a  disintegrating  force  but  truly 
constructive  in  a  wide  sense.  The  details  of  the  labors  that 
effected  this  must  be  sought  in  the  histories  of  the  Reformation 
on  its  religious  side  and  on  its  political  side  also.  The  follow- 
ing features  of  the  Genevan  theocracy  merit  special  attention : 
Calvin's  nominal  limitation  to  the  life  of  a  minister  and  teacher 
but  practical  ecclesiastico-political  dictatorship;  his  funda- 
mental conviction  that  the  whole  life  of  the  people  in  their 
domestic,  social,  industrial,  and  political  relations  must  be 
put  under  the  strict  authority  of  religion  whether  by  con- 
sent or  by  outer  compulsion  (compare  the  Roman  Catholic 
view);  the  use  of  the  teachings  of  the  Old  Testament,  espe- 
cially the  two  Tables  of  Moses,  as  divinely  given  instructions 
on  this  matter;  the  relentless  enforcement  of  the  laws  by  a 
system  of  espionage  and  of  penalties  ranging  from  beheading 
to  fmes,  and  covering  the  minutest  details  of  public  and 
private  life,  both  religious  and  secular;  the  founding  of  the 
Consistory,  a  mixed  body  of  ministers  and  laymen  in  the  ratio 
of  one  to  two,  for  the  enforcement  of  ecclesiastical  rules; 
the  impulse  thereby  given  to  republicanism.  Observe  that 
Calvin  founded  a  church-state  rather  than  a  state-church, 
perfecting  Zwingli's  idea  and  reversing  Luther's. 

Literature. — Eugene  Choisy,  L'Etat  chretien  calviniste  a  Geneve 
(Paris :  Fischbacher,  1902) ;  Auguste  Lang,  Zwingli  und  Calvin  (Bielefeld : 
Velhagen  &  Klasing,  1913). 

In  addition  to  this  local  activity  one  must  notice  Calvin's 
intimate  acquaintance  and  co-operation  with  the  work  of  the 
Reformed  church  in  other  countries.  Theodore  Beza  in 
France,  John  Knox  in  Scotland  (now  a  Calvinist  rather  than 
a  Lutheran),  Enghsh  Protestant  statesmen,  and  the  Dutch 
Reformers  received  inspiration  and  counsel  from  him.  He 
became  the  outstanding  figure  of  Protestantism  in  his  closing 
years. 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  387 

Literature. — For  a  broad  survey  of  his  relations  to  Protestantism 
read  Williston  Walker,  John  Calvin,  the  Organiser  of  Reformed  Protestant- 
ism (New  York:  Putnam,  1906). 

Accompanying  all  this  was  an  intense  literary  activity. 
The  student  will  do  well  to  examine  particularly  the  con- 
troversies with  Catholics,  Anabaptists,  anti-Trinitarian  dis- 
senters, especially  the  Socini  and  Servetus  (R.  Willis,  Servetus 
and  Calvin  [London:  King,  1877]),  and  the  relation,  spiritually, 
between  Calvinism  and  these.  It  would  be  interesting  to 
discover  whether  Calvinism  is  the  more  closely  related  in 
spirit  and  idea  with  rationalist  Unitarianism,  Lutheranism, 
or  Catholicism. 

Literature. — Calvin's  correspondence  with  churches,  statesmen, 
and  princes  in  many  sections  of  Europe  and  with  the  sovereigns  of 
England,  France,  and  Navarre  can  be  read  in  Jules  Bousset,  Lettres  de 
Jean  Calvin,  2  vols.  (Paris,  1854).  There  was  published  at  Lausanne 
in  1575,  his  Epistolae  et  Responsa,  and  at  Amsterdam,  1667-71,  his  col- 
lected works  {Opera  Omnia).  The  Calvin  Translation  Society  (1844-55) 
published  translations  of  his  commentaries  on  practically  the  whole 
Bible  and  his  tracts  containing  dogmatical  and  controversial  treatises. 
A  selection  of  his  most  celebrated  sermons  in  translation  was  published 
in  Philadelphia  in  1849. 

B.      THE  CALVINIST  REFORMATION  IN  SCOTLAND — FOUNDING   OF 
SCOTTISH   PRESBYTERIANISM 

The  Reformation  in  Scotland  may  be  regarded  as,  in  a 
sense,  the  resultant  of  the  complication  of  religious  and 
ecclesiastical  reform  with  a  disturbed  condition  of  foreign 
and  domestic  politics.  The  long-standing  alliance  between 
the  royal  house  of  Scotland  and  the  royal  house  of  France  as  a 
means  of  protection  against  Enghsh  aggression  was  threatened 
by  the  inauguration  of  the  policy  of  the  Tudor  house  of  Eng- 
land, which  sought  alliance  with  Scotland  by  royal  inter- 
marriage. These  two  parties  divided  the  country.  Related 
to  this  situation  were  the  internal  economic,  social,  and 
political  strifes  threatening  the  integrity  of  the  realm.     The 


388         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

crown  was  strongly  Catholic  and  papal  in  sympathy,  but  the 
nobility,  for  patriotic  reasons  and  for  the  sake  of  gaining 
the  control  of  the  church's  property,  led  an  opposition  to 
the  church  and  crown.  When  England  became  politically 
and  ecclesiastically  Protestant,  the  Scottish  lords  gained  a 
vast  accession  of  strength  by  alliance  with  English  Protestant- 
ism. Add  to  this  the  old  antipathy  between  the  untamed 
Highlanders  and  the  more  civilized  Lowlanders  and  you  have 
the  conditions  of  a  distracting  struggle  that  might  be  brought 
to  a  successful  issue  by  the  appearance  of  some  strong  man. 
He  came  in  the  Calvinist,  John  Knox.  Calvinism,  by  placing 
the  Reformed  church  in  a  position  of  dominance,  became 
the  chief  source  of  the  ultimate  unity  of  Scottish  life. 

Literature. — ^A  general  history  of  Scotland  should  be  read,  e.g., 
P.  H.  Brown,  History  of  Scotland  (Cambridge:  Clay,  1900-);  A.  R. 
McEwen,  A  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  Vol.  I  (London:  Hodder 
&  Stoughton,  1913),  carries  the  ecclesiastical  account  from  397  a.d.  to 
1546  A.D. 

John  Knox. — The  earlier  reforming  efforts  have  been 
noted.  Knox's  work  of  conserving  their  results  and  develop- 
ing a  more  powerful  movement  is  partly  to  be  accounted  for 
by  his  personal  career  and  character.  In  some  respects  he  was 
another  Calvin.  Note,  then,  his  slavery  for  religion's  sake  in 
the  French  galleys,  his  release  through  English  intervention, 
his  preaching  for  five  years  in  England  and  his  connection  with 
the  reform  in  Edward's  reign,  his  five  years  on  the  Continent, 
mainly  at  Geneva  and  Frankfurt,  and  his  return  to  Scotland. 
The  organization  of  the  Protestants  under  the  "Lords  of  the 
Congregation"  and  their  covenant,  and  the  assumption  of  the 
name  "Church"  with  a  confession  of  faith  drawn  up  by 
Knox  in  1560  and  approved  by  Parliament,  mark  the  begin- 
ning of  the  new  order.  The  articles  of  that  confession  are 
especially  important  because  they  were  the  standard  of 
Scottish  Protestantism  for  nearly  a  hundred  years  and 
became  the  vestibule  to  the  Westminster  Confession  of  1647. 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  389 

The  function  assigned  to  civil  government  is  significant  of  its 
thorough  Calvinistic  or  church-state  ideal. 

Literature. — For  the  story  of  the  Reformation  consult  D.  Hay  Flem- 
ing, The  Scottish  Reformation  (London:  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1910),  and 
the  Story  of  the  Scottish  Covenants  (Edinburgh:  Oliphant,  1904).  There 
are  many  lives  of  Knox.  Among  the  later  are  A.  T.  Innes,  John  Knox 
(New  York:  Scribner,  1896),  and  A.  Lang,  John  Knox  and  the  Reforma- 
tion (New  York:  Putnam,  1905).  Lorimer's  John  Knox  and  the  Church 
of  England  (London:  King,  1875)  presents  a  side  of  Knox's  activity 
often  overlooked.  Dean  Stanley  in  his  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
(London:  Murray,  1872)  presents  the  Episcopalian  estimation  of  the 
Presbyterian  and  Episcopal  struggles  in  Scotland. 

Four  other  steps  completed  the  formation  of  the  Presby- 
terian church  of  Scotland — the  preparation  of  a  book  of  dis- 
cipline which  described  the  organization  of  the  church,  the 
provision  of  a  liturgy,  the  translation  and  acceptance  of 
Calvin's  Catechism,  and  the  adoption  of  a  scheme  for  the 
education  of  the  people.  The  conflicts  of  the  next  seven  years, 
which  ended  in  the  legal  establishment  of  the  church  as 
thus  reformed,  belong  to  the  story  of  the  great  European 
struggle  for  the  safety  of  Protestant  countries,  with  England 
as  the  chief  protagonist  for  the  Reformation  against  the 
emperor  and  the  king  of  Spain. 

Literature. — Original  materials  for  study  may  be  found  in  D.  Laing's 
edition  of  Knox's  Works  (Edinburgh:  Wodrow  Soc,  1846-55) ;  Calendar 
of  State  Papers,  i §47-160 j  (Edinburgh,  1898);  Pollen,  Papal  Negotiations 
with  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  (Edinburgh:  Scottish  Historical  Soc,  1901); 
J.  F.  S.  Gordon,  Ecclesiastical  Chronicles  of  Scotland,  3  vols.  (Dumfries, 
1875);   Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom,  Vol.  HL 

From  the  accession  of  James  VI  to  the  united  throne  of  England  and 
Scotland  in  1603  onward  for  a  century  the  history  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  is  mainly  the  story  of  its  struggles  against  Episcopacy  and 
Independency. 

C.      THE   CALVINIST   REFORMATION   IN   THE    NETHERLANDS 

The  interest  in  the  Reformation  in  the  Netherlands  lies  not 
so  much  in  any  distinctive  character  to  be  perceived  in  the 
religious  spirit,  in  the  theology,  or  in  the  ecclesiastical  order 


390        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

established  there  by  Protestantism  as  in  the  effect  of  the 
Reformation  in  the  creation  of  the  Dutch  nation  and  in  its 
vast  influence  on  the  history  of  Europe  by  virtue  of  its  pecuhar 
connection  with  the  pohtics  of  the  two  opposing  forces.  The 
story  of  Dutch  Calvinism  belongs  mainly  to  the  political  his- 
tory of  those  times. 

The  principal  preliminary  studies  are:  first,  the  geograph- 
ical situation  of  the  Low  Countries — their  physical  features, 
their  economic  condition,  and  their  commercial  relations 
with  other  lands;  secondly,  the  inhabitants — their  racial 
differences  (Dutch  and  Flemings),  their  ancient  love  of 
independence,  their  tenacity  of  inherited  rights,  local  patriot- 
ism, vigor,  industry,  and  determination;  thirdly,  political 
relations — -the  many  municipal  governments,  the  divided 
relation  to  the  house  of  Burgundy  and  the  house  of  France, 
their  union  by  marriage  with  the  house  of  Austria  and  later 
with  the  house  of  Spain,  their  direct  political  relation  with 
Emperor  Charles  V  and  the  consequent  determination  by  him 
that  their  religious  beliefs  must  conform  with  his  own; 
fourthly,  their  open-mindedness  toward  intellectual  and 
religious  currents  flowing  from  other  lands,  especially  from 
the  South.  Thus  we  may  trace  the  work  of  the  Waldenses, 
Lollards,  Humanists  (e.g.,  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam  was  the 
leading  figure  of  Humanism),  Lutherans,  Anabaptists,  and 
finally  Calvinists.  The  many  private  religious  societies  in 
the  Netherlands  (such  as  Brethren  of  the  Common  Lot) 
indicate  the  tendency  toward  a  free  position  in  matters  of 
religion. 

The  events  of  outstanding  importance  are  mainly  the 
following:  pre-Lutheran  biblicism  and  protests  against  the 
Catholic  system  under  the  influence  of  men  like  John  Pupper 
and  John  Wessel;  the  entrance  of  Luther's  views  and  of 
those  of  the  early  Lutheran  martyrs  (noted  above  in  the 
^account  of  Lutheranism,  p.  375);   the  rapid  multiplication  of 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  '    391 

Bibles  by  the  printing-press  and  the  dissemination  of  radical 
views;  the  growth  of  Anabaptism  and  its  overthrow  through 
the  "Miinster  Uproar";  the  desperate  and  cruel  attempts 
of  Charles  V  to  reduce  dissent  (see  his  infamous  "placards"), 
the  lists  of  prohibited  books,  and  his  gradual  introduction  of 
the  methods  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition — thus  far  to  the  abdi- 
cation of  the  emperor  and  the  transference  of  the  sovereignty  of 
the  Netherlands  to  his  son,  King  Philip  II  of  Spain.  Then 
appeared  his  measures  for  the  enforcement  of  the  canons  and 
decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent  and  the  acceptance  of  the 
challenge  by  the  Calvinists,  who  now  became  the  leaders  of 
the  Reformation  there.  The  iconoclasm  of  the  Calvinists, 
the  formation  of  consistories  for  defense,  and  the  organization 
by  the  Spanish  government  of  measures  of  suppression  intro- 
duced the  political  revolution. 

The  events  of  the  hundred  years'  war  of  the  Dutch 
Revolution  belong  to  the  poHtical  history  of  the  Netherlands. 
With  the  detachment  of  the  southern  provinces  to  the  Roman- 
ist side  and  the  Union  of  Utrecht  under  the  leadership  of 
''William  the  Silent"  of  Orange,  Holland  becomes  a  new 
Protestant  state  with  a  state-supported  Protestant  church  of 
the  Calvinist  t^pe. 

Literature. — Of  chief  value  for  the  new  student  are  the  following: 
A  History  of  the  Reformation  in  the  Netherlands  (in  Dutch)  by  Brandt,  a 
Remonstrant,  published  in  167 1,  gives  an  almost  contemporary  view. 
It  was  translated  and  published  in  English  at  London  in  1720-21.  In 
this  work  the  religious  history  of  the  people  is  carried  from  the  eighth 
century  to  the  Synod  of  Dort.  Reformation  in  den  Niederlanden,  1518- 
1619,  by  C.  P.  H.  de  Groot,  was  translated  into  German  and  published  at 
Gutersloh  in  1893.  It  is  brief.  J.  L.  Motley,  The  Rise  of  the  Dutch 
Republic,  carrying  the  story  to  1584,  is  fascinating  modern  work,  super- 
seded, however,  by  P.  J.  Blok,  History  of  the  Netherla^ids.  For  the  doc- 
trinal standards  of  the  Dutch  church  consult  Schaff,  Creeds  of 
Christendom.  For  the  ecclesiastical  movement  see  Lindsay,  History  of 
the  Reformation  (New  York:   Scribner,  1907). 


392         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

D.      THE  CALVINIST  REFORMATION  IN  OTHER  LANDS,  ESPECIALLY  IN 
PRANCE,    GERMANY,    SWITZERLAND,   AND   ENGLAND 

I.  France. — The  stirring  but  tragical  story  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, or  French  Calvinists,  has  attached  an  interest  to  the 
Reformation  in  France  out  of  proportion  to  its  actual  influ- 
ence in  world-affairs.  The  genius  of  the  French  people  has 
been  political  rather  than  religious.  The  Reformation  in 
France  followed  the  genius  of  the  people. 

At  the  outset  of  the  study  it  is  essential  that  the  student 
place  himself  squarely  abreast  of  the  political  situation  in 
France*  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
following  are  points  of  significance:  the  powerful  nationalism 
of  the  French,  developed  partly  through  the  long  conflict 
with  the  English;  the  strongly  monarchical  authority  in 
government,  with  a  tendency  to  imperialism  and  despotism 
in  church  as  well  as  state;  "  Gallicanism  "  as  against  the  power 
of  the  papacy  in  the  church  of  France;  the  personal  policy 
of  King  Francis  I,  leading  him  to  encourage  the  men  of  the 
Renaissance,  to  protect  reformers  like  Lefevre  and  Berquin 
as  against  the  Parlement  of  Paris,  and  to  support  the  German 
Protestants  against  his  rival,  Emperor  Charles  V;  his  con- 
cordat with  the  Pope  in  15 16,  and  his  determination  that 
Protestantism  should  not  go  so  far  as  to  threaten  his  despotic 
power. 

Literature.— Woxk?>  on  the  political  history  of  France  should  be 
consulted.  George  B.  Adams,  The  Growth  of  the  French  Nation  (New 
York:  Macmillan,  1897),  is  an  excellent  one -volume  survey.  See  also 
Duruy,  Histoire  de  France  (Paris:  Hachette,  1866;  English  translation  by 
Carey,  History  of  France  [New  York:  Crowell,  1889]);  G.  W.  Kitchin, 
History  of  France,  3  vols.  (London:  Macmillan,  1873),  especially  Vol.  II. 
M.  Guizot,  History  of  France,  8  vols.,  is  well  known. 

The  religious  influences  working  positively  toward  a 
reformation  may  be  discovered  through  a  study  of  the  char- 
acter of  Francis'  sister,  Margaret  of  Angouleme,  who  became 
the  mother  of  the  noble  Jeanne  d'Albret,  queen  of  Navarre 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  393 

and  mother  of  Henry  of  Navarre,  who  was  later  King  Henry 
IV  of  France;  the  early  evangelical  activity  of  Brifonnet, 
bishop  of  Meaux,  Farel,  Roussel,  Marot,  and  Calvin;  and  the 
influence  of  Lutheranism,  especially  through  Melanchthon. 

Literature. — These  influences  are  described  in  detail  by  Baird  in  his 
The  History  of  the  Rise  of  the  Huguenots  of  France,  Vols.  II-V  (New  York: 
Scribner,  1895-1907).  For  a  French  estimate  of  Calvin  see  F.  P.  G. 
Guyot,  Louis  and  Calvin  (London:  Macmillan,  1878). 

When  the  character  of  the  Reformation  in  France  becomes 
more  clearly  defined,  the  influence  of  Geneva  appears  upper- 
most. The  unfavorable  change  in  the  attitude  of  Francis 
becomes  evident  and  occasions  the  publication  of  Calvin's 
Institutes,  introduced  by  his  famous  address  to  the  French 
king  (which  read).  The  proceedings  of  the  Sorbonne  (the 
theological  faculty  of  the  University  of  Paris)  and  the  Parle- 
ment  of  Paris,  with  the  king's  support,  following  the  posting  of 
the  Placards  against  the  Mass,  introduce  the  era  of  regular 
persecutions,  marked  by  the  massacre  of  the  Vaudois  in  1545. 
The  history  of  the  Waldenses  (French  Vaudois)  should 
come  under  review  in  this  connection. 

Literature. — For  the  progress  of  the  persecution  at  this  time  the 
student  may  consult  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  VHistoire  du  Protestantisme 
Franqais  for  1858,  and  H.  M.  Bower,  The  Fourteen  of  Meaux  (London: 
Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1894). 

With  the  death  of  Francis  and  the  accession  of  Henry  II 
comes  a  new  period  in  French  Protestant  history.  On  the 
ecclesiastical  side  the  scattered  bands  of  Calvinists  in  nearly 
all  the  provinces  of  France,  but  especially  in  Normandy, 
Brittany,  and  Picardy,  are  organized  after  the  Presbyterian 
model  under  the  leadership  of  the  great  Theodore  Beza  and 
with  the  Confessio  Gallica  (Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom, 
Vol.  Ill)  as  their  doctrinal  standard.  On  the  political  side  are 
the  division  of  the  nobility  into  two  parties,  the  Huguenot 
nobles  under  the  leadership  of  the  house  of  Bourbon  and 
Admiral  Coligny  of  Chatillon  and  the  Catholic  nobles  under  the 


394         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

leadership  of  the  Guises,  and  the  treaty  with  Spain  by  which 
the  king  bound  himself  to  co-operate  with  the  Spaniards  in 
the  extirpation  of  the  Protestants  of  the  Netherlands  and 
France.  The  year  1559  may  be  set  as  the  great  date  in  the 
story  of  French  Calvinism.  At  that  time  the  Huguenots 
became  a  religio-political  party  and  Calvinism  a  political 
faith  in  France. 

The  story  of  the  next  forty  years  is  the  story  of  the  religious 
wars  in  France.  Some  of  the  great  events  may  be  noted  here 
because  of  their  significance:  the  entrance  of  the  house  of 
Navarre  into  French  affairs,  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholemew's 
Eve,  the  War  of  the  Three  Henry's,  and  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 

Literature. — -For  a  thorough  account  up  to  1574  read  H.  M.  Baird, 
The  History  of  the  Rise  of  the  Huguenots  (New  York:  Scribner,  1895, 
1900,  1907).  For  the  religious  wars  see  Armstrong,  The  Religious  Wars 
of  France  {Oxford:  Blackwell,  1904);  Thompson,  The  Wars  of  Religion  in 
France  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909).  For  the 
general  history  see  The  Cambridge  Modern  History,  Vol.  II.  H.  M. 
Baird,  Theodore  Besa  (New  York:  Putnam,  1899),  gives  an  account  of  the 
career  of  the  great  Huguenot  ecclesiastical  leader. 

2.  Germany. — ^The  salient  points  are:  the  limitation  of  the 
toleration  secured  to  the  Lutherans  by  the  Treaty  of  Augsburg; 
the  acceptance  of  Calvinism  by  the  Hohenzollerns  and  its 
spread  in  Prussia;  its  virtual  establishment  in  the  Palatinate 
by  the  Elector  Frederick  III,  with  the  adoption  of  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism  drawn  up  by  Ursinus  and  Olevianus;  the 
influence  Calvin  exercised  on  the  views  of  Melanchthon 
(noted  above) ;  and  the  vigor  imparted  to  German  Protestant- 
ism, enabling  it  to  play  a  courageous  part,  so  far  as  the 
Calvinists  were  concerned,  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 

3.  Switzerland. — The  virtual  absorption  of  Zwinglianism 
by  Calvinism  is  signalized  by  the  adoption  of  the  Second 
Helvetic  Confession  (1566)  by  the  Protestant  cantons  (Schaff, 
Creeds  of  Christendom,  Vol.  III). 

4.  England  (see  below). — The  significance  of  Calvinism  is 
seen  especially  in  the  struggle  between  Elizabeth  and  Mary, 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  395 

the  rise  of  the  Puritans  and  Nonconformists,  the  formulation 
of  the  Lambeth  Articles,  and  the  civil  war  under  the  Stuarts. 

D.      RETROSPECT 

At  this  point  the  student  may  profitably  make  an  estimate 
of  the  value  of  Calvinism  for  early  Protestantism.  The 
following  points  are  of  particular  significance:  its  inner 
religious  significance;  its  services  to  intelligence,  morality, 
and  civil  life;  its  doctrinal  constructiveness;  its  relation  to 
the  spirit  of  liberty  and  the  impulse  to  progress. 

Arising  later  than  the  Lutheran  Reformation,  Calvinism 
profited  by  the  conquests  and  defeats,  by  the  truth  and  the 
error,  in  the  earlier  movement.  It  was  freer  from  the  taint  of 
monasticism  and  regard  for  sacraments,  it  had  a  more  whole- 
some view  of  the  world  and  a  more  hopeful  outlook  on  its 
future.  Calvinism  was  less  mystical  in  its  piety  than  Luther- 
anism  and  succeeded  in  imparting  to  its  adherents  a  greater 
degree  of  assurance  of  objective  final  salvation  and  a  clearer 
sense  of  personal  relation  to  God.  It  was  bolder  and  more 
thorough  in  its  assertion  of  the  prerogatives  of  intelligence 
and  more  definite  in  its  formulation  of  its  faith  in  doctrines. 
It  had  a  firmer  moral  tone,  exalted  the  authority  of  con- 
science, and  established  the  importance  of  moral  discipline 
in  the  churches.  Calvinism  has  been  the  mother  of  great 
moral  reforms.  It  possessed  more  initiative  than  Lutheran- 
ism  in  the  matter  of  ecclesiastical  organization  and  succeeded 
in  vindicating  the  right  of  the  church  over  against  the  claims  of 
the  civil  power,  in  which  the  earlier  movement  had  failed. 
Hence  also  its  tendency  to  democratic  or  republican  govern- 
ment. The  vigor  and  statesmanship  of  its  great  leader 
enabled  it  to  set  up  a  militant  Protestantism  that  successfully 
disputed  the  possession  of  the  earth  with  Catholicism  and  to 
develop  great  church-states  whose  influence  has  largely  per- 
vaded the  world.  The  independence  of  the  personal  judgment 
which  the  intellectualism  of  Calvinism  nourished  has  made  it 


396        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

fruitful  from  its  earliest  times  in  the  creation  of  dissent,  but 
over  against  this  it  has  exhibited  a  stern  and  hard  intolerance 
that  shrinks  not  from  inflicting  on  others  the  sufferings  that 
Calvinists  were  willing  to  endure,  if  need  be,  for  their  own 
faith. 

V.      THE   REFORMATION   IN  ENGLAND 

The  early  Protestantism  of  England  appears  at  first  glance 
as  almost  wholly  political  and  economic  in  character  and  its 
existence  as  due  to  the  skilful  manipulation  of  the  proceedings 
of  Parliament  by  one  determined,  selfish,  and  unscrupulous 
man,  King  Henry  VIII.  That  at  a  later  time  English  Protes- 
tantism became  an  immense  moral  and  religious  force  fruitful 
in  high  achievement  may  be  said  to  be  the  consequence  mainly 
of  the  coming  to  England  of  great  numbers  of  religious 
refugees  from  the  Continent  and  to  internal  civil  disturbances 
that  favored  a  propagation  of  the  Reformation  faith.  Though 
possessed  of  some  superficial  truth,  this  view  is  misleading. 
To  understand  the  English  Reformation  one  must  understand 
the  genius  of  the  English  people — their  keen  sense  of  inde- 
pendent nationhood,  their  reverence  for  the  past  (historical 
sense,  regard  for  precedent),  their  honesty  of  purpose,  their 
love  of  freedom  and  adventure,  their  appreciation  of  the 
worth  of  the  practicable  rather  than  the  logical  or  ideal, 
their  genuine  religiousness.  The  church  established  by  law 
in  those  days  was  such  an  establishment  as  was  possible  in  a 
nation  of  people  possessed  of  political  genius  capable  of  world- 
wide exercise  and  desirous  that  their  national  life  and  institu- 
tions be  permeated  by  religion  but  not  disintegrated  by  it. 

The  student  will  observe  how  the  early  subserviency  of 
the  church  in  England  began  to  yield  to  a  sense  of  inde- 
pendence or  opposition  in  the  time  of  the  Plantagenets, 
when  Parliament  and  king  (supported  by  a  growing  popular 
distrust  and  dislike  for  clergy  and  monks)  and  the  powerful 
polemic  of  the  great  Wycliffe  repeatedly  defied  the  papal 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  397 

church  and  passed  severe  legislation  against  it.  The  accession 
of  the  house  of  Lancaster,  its  friendship  for  the  papacy,  its 
attempted  suppression  of  the  Lollards,  Wycliffe's  successors, 
the  submergence  of  the  reforming  movement  in  the  conflict 
known  as  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  the  virtual  disappearance 
of  the  old  nobihty  in  the  struggle,  the  rise  of  the  Tudor  dynasty 
with  despotic  power,  the  creation  of  a  new  nobility  dependent 
on  the  will  of  the  monarchy,  and  the  gradual  renewal  of  the 
power  of  the  House  of  Commons  are  all  to  be  taken  account 
of  in  the  religious  and  ecclesiastical  revolution. 

Literature. — For  this  important  preliminary  study  A.  D.  Innes, 
England  under  the  Tudor s  (London:  Methuen  &  Co.,  1905)  will  furnish 
the  student  with  a  clear  and  just  view  of  the  general  conditions.  Dyson 
Hague,  The  Church  of  England  before  the  Reformation  (London :  Hodder 
&  Stoughton,  1897),  describes  from  the  churchman's  point  of  view  the 
ecclesiastical  side  of  the  preceding  history.  J.  Gairdner,  Lollardy  and 
the  Reformation,  2  vols.  (London:  Macmillan,  1908),  gives  an  elaborate 
but  very  partial  view  of  the  influence  of  the  Lollards,  which  may  be 
corrected  by  reading  G.  M.  Trevelyan,  England  in  the  Age  of  Wycliffe 
(London:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,-  1809);  J.  C.  Carrick,  Wycliffe  and 
the  Lollards  (New  York:  Scribner,  1908),  and  the  general  histories.  The 
influence  of  Humanism  immediately  before  the  Reformation  is  exhibited 
in  Seebohm,  The  Oxford  Reformers  (London:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co., 
1869). 

The  forces  and  conditions  operative  at  the  inception  of 
the  new  movement  in  England  may  be  specified  in  the  main 
as  follows:  religious  influences,  persisting  through  earlier 
times,  given  fresh  power  and  developing  a  distinctively  Eng- 
Hsh  type  through  the  Wycliffian  reformation;  the  infiltration 
into  England  of  the  Continental  dissent  that  had  prepared 
the  way  for  reform  and  had  produced  a  good  many  martyrs; 
the  religious  estrangement  from  Rome  through  the  work  of 
translators  and  expositors  of  the  Scriptures  (e.g.,  Colet, 
Erasmus,  and  More);  the  immense  incitement  to  opposition 
to  the  Roman  church  through  Luther's  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith;   the  Renaissance,  arousing  skepticism  as  to  the 


398         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

church's  doctrines  and  claims  and  disclosing  the  ignorance 
and  corruption  in  the  priesthood  and  monks ;  foreign  political 
relations,  embracing  the  scheme  of  alliances  through  inter- 
marriage among  the  royal  houses,  of  which  the  marriage  of 
Henry  VIII  with  Catharine  of  Aragon,  the  alignment  of 
England  with  Spain,  and  the  Pope's  dispensation  granting  him 
the  right  to  marry  his  deceased  brother's  widow,  involving 
the  papacy  in  the  dissatisfaction  the  fruitless  marriage  ulti- 
mately produced  in  the  headstrong  but  superstitious  king, 
constituted  a  signal  instance;  the  long-pent-up  anger  of  the 
English  people  with  the  papacy  as  a  foreign  power  that 
nevertheless  drew  heavy  revenues  from  an  unwilling  people; 
finally,  the  popularity  of  Henry  with  his  own  people  and  his 
power  to  awaken  their  enthusiasm  by  elevating  England  in 
the  eyes  of  Europe  at  a  time  when  pope  and  emperor  were  at 
loggerheads  and  nationalism  could  assert  itself  with  success. 

The  actual  establishment  of  the  English  church  occupies  an 
important  part  of  the  story  of  four  reigns,  those  of  Henry  VIII, 
Edward  VI,  Mary,  and  Elizabeth.  The  facts  are  related  with 
substantial  agreement  in  the  general  histories  of  the  state 
and  the  church.  The  student  should  examine  carefully  the 
following:  the  significance  of  Henry's  participation  in  the 
controversy  with  Luther,  of  the  divorce  from  Catharine  and 
the  marriage  with  Anne  Boleyn,  of  the  fall  of  Wolsey  and  the 
substitution  of  Cranmer  as  clerical  councilor  and  Cromwell  as 
civil  councilor,  and  of  the  appeal  to  the  House  of  Commons; 
the  constitutional  changes  effected  through  the  successive 
acts  of  Parliament  that  finally  broke  all  connection  with  the 
papacy  and  made  the  king  the  head  of  the  church  in  England ; 
the  limited  extent  to  which  the  reform  in  doctrine,  order, 
ritual,  and  morals  went;  the  effect  on  England's  relations 
with  Scotland. 

The  work  of  Reformation  under  Edward  is  significant  on 
account  of  the  closer  relations  it  brought  with  the  Protestants 
of  the  Continent,  as  respects  doctrine  especially,  and  the 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  399 

reactionary  feeling  caused  by  the  selfish  and  blundering 
policies  of  the  young  king's  advisers.  This  facilitated  the 
restoration  of  the  papal  authority  under  Mary.  Her  perse- 
cution of  Protestants  and  the  revulsion  it  produced  in  the 
English  mind  is  a  matter  of  great  moment  to  the  student 
of  English  history,  because  it  brings  out  a  contrast  with 
the  common  acceptance,  on  the  Continent,  of  the  idea 
that  death  penalties  were  the  normal  punishment  for 
heresy.  (Note  that  the  Inquisition  had  never  been  estab- 
lished in  England.)  The  humiliating  character  of  Mary's 
foreign  policy,  the  coolness  of  the  papacy  toward  her  govern- 
ment, and  the  unwillingness  of  the  English  people  as  repre- 
sented in  their  Commons  to  restore  the  property  of  the 
despoiled  monasteries  and  the  other  papal  revenues  tended 
to  confirm  the  public  mind  in  the  belief  that  the  good  of  the 
nation  lay  in  the  Protestant  direction. 

The  accession  of  Elizabeth  introduced  the  glorious  period 
of  English  history.  The  points  of  importance  up  to  157 1  are: 
the  personal  views  and  policy  of  the  queen,  the  restoration  of 
the  royal  supremacy,  the  subjection  of  the  ecclesiastical 
authority  to  the  secular,  the  adoption  of  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles  as  the  rule  of  doctrine,  the  revision  of  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  prepared  during  Edward's  reign,  the  estab- 
lishment of  episcopacy  as  the  form  of  the  internal  government 
of  the  church,  the  rejection  of  Puritanism,  and  the  passing 
of  the  Act  of  Uniformity  in  religion.  The  outcome  of  these 
measures  is  to  be  traced  through  all  the  subsequent  history  of 
the  English  people. 

There  are  many  subjects  that  call  for  special  investigation, 
such  as  the  economic  interests  that  affected  the  course  of  the 
movement,  the  extent  to  which  the  English  Reformation  was 
at  bottom  political,  the  influence  of  Continental  Protestantism 
on  the  doctrines  of  the  English  church,  the  translations  of 
the  Bible  and  their  effect  on  the  life  of  the  religious  leaders 
and  people  at  the  time,  the  degree  to  which  the  Reformation 


400        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

fostered  the  spirit  of  liberty,  the  reason  why  the  Protestantism 
of  England  became  the  most  prolific  in  dissent  among  all 
the  Protestant  churches  by  law  established. 

Literature. — A  few  of  the  most  valuable  works  to  be  consulted  are 
herewith  mentioned.  A  thorough  and  original  study  of  the  English 
Reformation  requires  an  examination  of  the  English  State  papers  of  the 
period.  The  publications  of  the  Parker  Society  have  preserved  the 
works  of  many  of  the  leaders,  such  as  Bishops  Hooper,  Coverdale,  Latimer, 
Ridley,  and  Jewel,  Archbishop  Cranmer,  and  William  Tyndale.  Strype's 
Memorials  and  Annals  preserve  contemporary  accounts  from  the  Protes- 
tant point  of  view.  So  does  Foxe's  Book  oj  Martyrs.  Gee  and  Hardy, 
Documents  Illustrative  of  English  Church  History  (London:  Macmillan, 
1896),  is  valuable,  and  so  is  Burnet's  History  of  the  Reformation,  critical  ed. 
(Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1865).  Froude's  History  of  England  (Lon- 
don: Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1870)  contains  an  elaborate  account  of 
the  Reformation.  Geikie's  and  Clark's  histories  of  the  Anglican  Refor- 
mation are  more  summary.  Gairdner,  The  English  Church  of  the  Six- 
teenth Century  (London:  Macmillan,  1902),  is  more  recent.  F.  A. 
Gasquet,  in  The  Eve  of  the  Reformation  (London:  Bell,  1905)  and 
Henry  VIII  and  the  English  Monasteries,  6th  ed.  (London:  Hodges, 
1902),  gives  the  Roman  Catholic  view  of  the  movement.  Most  of  the 
works  referred  to  concern  also  the  later  period  of  the  Reformation,  to 
be  treated  below. 

VI.       THE    ANABAPTIST    REFORMATION 

The  significance  of  the  name  Anabaptist  or  Rebaptiser 
is  of  essential  importance,  for  it  creates  the  impression  that 
the  people  referred  to  laid  special  stress  on  baptism,  while 
the  reverse  is  nearer  the  truth.  The  clue  to  the  derogatory 
sense  in  which  the  word  was  commonly  used  and  to  the  bitter 
attitude  assumed  toward  these  people  is  found  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  view  of  baptism  and  in  the  sympathy  with  that  view 
on  the  part  of  the  orthodox  Protestant  churches.  The  name 
Anabaptist  is  indicative  of  a  thoroughly  radical  form  of 
Protestantism,  if  it  can  be  called  Protestantism,  and  of  an 
apparently  anarchical  tendency.  Hence  there  is  no  move- 
ment of  Reformation  times  that  is  better  suited  to  give  the 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  401 

Student  help  at  the  beginning  toward  an  insight   into   the 
character  of  the  forces  at  work  then. 

Literature. — In  the  earlier  histories  little  justice  was  done  to  the 
Anabaptists,  but  recent  historians  have  made  ample,  though  late, 
amends.  The  interest  in  the  movement  has  become  deep  and  wide- 
spread, especially  in  Germany  and  among  the  more  radical  Christian 
thinkers  of  the  present.  For  the  best  one-volume  account  the  student 
is  advised  to  read  A  History  of  Anti-Paedobaptism  by  A.  H.  Newman 
(Philadelphia:  American  Baptist  Pub.  Soc,  1907),  and  to  consult  the 
extensive  bibliography  it  gives.  The  short  chapter  on  Anabaptism 
in  Lindsay,  History  of  the  Reformation,  Vol.  11  (New  York:  Scribner, 
1907),  is  typical  of  the  appreciative  view  of  many  today. 

The  following  suggestions  are  offered  as  to  the  lines  of 
investigation  to  be  followed: 

1.  The  affiliations  of  the  Anabaptist  movement. — Among 
these  are  the  evangelical  or  dissenting  parties  of  mediaeval 
times,  such  as  the  Petrobruscians,  the  Henricians,  the  Poor 
Men,  the  Waldenses,  the  Lollards;  there  are  the  mediaeval 
and  later  struggles  for  economic  and  social  reform  or  revolu- 
tion following  upon  the  Crusades  and  issuing  in  peasants' 
wars,  especially  in  Central  Europe,  of  which  the  one  that  broke 
out  shortly  after  Luther's  breach  with  Rome  was  very  closely 
related  to  the  rapid  spread  of  Anabaptism  that  came  quickly 
afterward;  there  are  the  afiEiliations  with  the  spirit  of  intel- 
lectual liberty  in  the  Renaissance  which  produced  a  left  wing 
of  Anabaptists;  there  are,  finally,  the  affiliations  with  the 
great  reforming  movements  whose  course  has  been  indicated. 
The  student  may  ask  himself  whether  it  was  not  the  con- 
sciousness on  the  part  of  the  "Reformers"  that  the  Ana- 
baptists were  carrying  their  own  principles  to  a  natural  but 
unwelcome  conclusion  that  led  them  to  denounce  Anabaptism 
and  to  repress  it  as  dangerous  to  the  state-church  systems 
that  sought  to  combat  Catholicism  with  secular  support. 

2.  The  different  directions  in  which  Anabaptism  tended 
to  develop. — Note  especially  the  thoroughgoing  individualism 
that  was  so  strongly  marked  in  them  all:    {a)  mysticism, 


402         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

growing  into  pantheism  on  the  one  side  after  the  manner  of 
the  later  Franciscans  and  the  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit, 
with  such  prominent  instances  as  David  Joris  and  Heinrich 
Nicolaes;  or  (b)  mysticism  flaming  up  into  "prophetism,"  as 
in  the  case  of  the  Zwickau  prophets  that  gave  Luther  so  much 
trouble;  or,  again,  (c)  millenarianism  under  leaders  like  Nich- 
olas Storch,  Melchior  Hoffmann,  or  Bernhard  Rothmann,  cul- 
minating in  the  Miinster  tragedy;  or,  again,  (d)  the  prevailing 
type  of  the  Swiss  Anabaptists,  with  their  insistence  on  religious 
liberty,  free  churches,  spirituality  even  beyond  biblicism,  and 
a  sane  and  healthy  view  of  the  state  as  necessary  but  distinct 
from  the  church,  represented  by  such  men  as  Balthasar  Hub- 
maier,  George  Blaurock,  Conrad  Grebel,  and  John  Denck; 
or,  once  more,  (e)  the  Anabaptists  of  the  left  wing,  who 
developed  a  rationalism  that  was  but  slightly  permeated  with 
the  deep  religious  spirit  that  characterized  the  last  mentioned 
and  whose  great  representatives  are  the  Italians  Camillo 
Renato,  George  Biandrata,  the  Socini,  and,  perhaps,  the 
Spaniard  Servetus. 

3.  The  principal  tenets  of  the  Anabaptists. — The  follow- 
ing points  are  significant:  (a)  the  immediacy  of  the  indi- 
vidual's relations  with  God,  carrying  with  it  the  rejection 
of  all  ecclesiastical  authority  and  legalism  in  religion,  all 
priestly  mediation  or  sacramental  efficacy;  (b)  the  pure 
spirituality  of  the  Christian  religion,  carrying  with  it  the 
renunciation  of  any  external  form  of  organization,  ritual,  or 
confession  of  faith  as  essential  to  salvation;  (c)  the  freedom 
and  spontaneity  of  the  Christian  spirit,  carrying  with  it 
the  subordination  of  the  ''outer  word"  of  God  to  the 
"inner  word"  of  religious  liberty,  and  supremacy  over  enact- 
ments of  moral  law;  (d)  voluntarism  in  religion,  carrying  with 
it  the  rejection  of  the  Augustinian  doctrine  of  original  sin 
and  the  associated  doctrines  and  ecclesiastical  practices  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  emphasis  on  the  saving  quality  of  truly 
good    works;     (c)    the    necessity    of    reproducing   primitive 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  403 

Christianity  in  order  to  obtain  a  religion  pure  from  the  cor- 
ruptions that  had  accumulated  in  the  intervening  period — 
hence  their  depreciatory  view  of  the  history  of  the  church  and 
their  democracy;  (/)  the  essence  of  Christianity  found  in  the 
life  of  hkeness  to  Jesus  Christ — -hence  their  interest  in  the 
New  Testament  and  comparative  disregard  for  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  their  substitution  of  the  Gospels  for  the  Pauline 
writings  as  the  chief  source  of  Christian  truth;  (g)  little 
emphasis  on  ecclesiastical  organization,  with  democracy  or 
in  places  a  tendency  toward  Presbyterian  organization,  and 
with  a  consistent  rejection  of  all  alliance  with  the  civil  power. 
In  the  study  of  the  working  of  their  views  in  Reformation  times 
the  student  will  be  able  to  orient  himself  with  regard  to 
important  religious  and  theological  movements  of  later  times. 

4.  The  propagation  and  outcome  of  the  Anabaptist  Refor- 
mation in  the  times  of  the  Protestant  revolution. — Notice  in 
this  connection  the  spread  of  Anabaptism  throughout  West- 
ern Europe  from  Poland  to  Scandinavia  and  the  British 
Isles;  the  treatment  the  Anabaptists  received  in  each  of  the 
countries  included  in  this  territory,  and  the  attitude  of 
Lutherans,  Zwinglians,  Calvinists,  and  Anglicans,  not  omitting 
to  notice  the  instances  of  broader  views  on  the  part  of  some 
rulers;  their  behavior  under  persecution  and  the  nevertheless 
terrible  effects  of  this  persecution  on  the  whole  character  of 
Protestantism,  the  tragedy  of  the  uprising  at  Miinster,  the 
sweeping  condemnation  of  them  on  account  of  it,  and  the 
rescue  of  the  remnant  of  and  perpetuation  of  quiet  Anabap- 
tism through  the  statesmanship  of  Menno  Simons. 

5.  The  relation  of  Anabaptism  to  the  Baptist,  Arminian, 
and  Quaker  movements  of  the  later  Protestant  period. — 
This  will  bring  the  student  into  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
struggle  between  state-churchism  and  Free-churchism  in 
England,  Holland,  and  America. 

Literature. — For  a  knowledge  of  the  relation  of  the  Anabaptists  to 
the  social  and  economic  influences  of  the  time  one  would  do  well  to  read 


404         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  popularly  written  works  of  E.  Belfort  Bax  on  "The  Social  Side  of  the 
Reformation  in  Germany,"  mainly  his  German  Society  at  the  Close  of  the 
Middle  Ages  (London:  Sonnenschein,  1894);  The  Peasants'  War  in  Ger- 
many (New  York:  Macmillan,  1899);  and  the  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Ana- 
baptists (New  York:  Macmillan,  1903).  R.  Wolkan,  in  Die  Lieder  der 
Wiedertdufer  (Berlin:  Behr,  1903),  gives  an  inside  view  of  the  piety  of 
the  Anabaptists.  The  recent  work  of  J.  Horsch  entitled  M etmo  Simons: 
His  Life,  Labours,  and  Teaching  (Mennonite  Publishing  House,  Scott- 
dale,  Pa.,  1916),  has  valuable  data  for  the  European  Mennonites. 
The  life  of  Balthasar  Hubmaier,  the  highest  type  of  the  Anabaptists, 
is  written  by  H.  C.  Vedder  (New  York,  1903).  See  Carl  Sachsse, 
Balthasar  Hubmaier  als  Theolog  (Berlin:  Trowitzsch,  1914).  The 
Mennonitish  literature  is  extensive,  but  apart  from  the  translation 
into  English  in  187 1  (New  York:  Mennonite  Pub.  Soc.)  from  the  original 
Dutch  of  the  complete  works  of  Menno  the  works  in  English  give  but 
brief  sketches  of  early  Mennonitism  and  devote  their  attention  mainly 
to  the  Mennonites  of  America.  In  the  histories  of  the  Baptists  by 
Crosby,  History  of  the  English,  Baptists  (London,  1738);  Joseph  Ivimey, 
A  History  of  the  English  Baptists  (London,  181 1);  and  John  Evans,  A 
Brief  Sketch  of  the  Several  Denominations  into  Which  the  World  Is  Divided 
(London,  1795),  and  in  the  publications  of  the  Hanserd  KnoUys  Library, 
there  is  considerable  original  material  reflecting  Anabaptist  influence. 
See  also  Strype,  Annals  of  the  Reformation  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press, 
1824),  and  Ecclesiastical  Memorials  (Oxford:    Clarendon  Press,  1822). 

VII.      THE    BEGINNING    OF    THE    DISINTEGRATION    OF    THE 
PROTESTANT    SYSTEMS 

If  the  student  were  to  seek  an  approximate  date  for  the 
estabhshment  of  Protestant  state-church  systems  in  general, 
he  would  find  the  year  1560  suitable.  Let  him  note  the  dates 
for  the  Treaty  of  Augsburg;  for  the  recognized  supremacy 
of  Calvin  in  Geneva;  for  the  first  French  national  synod 
of  the  Reformed  church  and  the  Galilean  Confession;  for  the 
restoration  of  the  royal  supremacy  in  England  the  Act  of 
Uniformity,  the  revision  of  the  Prayer  Book,  and  the  adoption 
of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles;  for  the  adoption  of  the  Scotch 
Confession,  the  Belgic  Confession,  the  Heidelberg  Catechism, 
and  of  that  most  popular  of  all  the  Protestant  confessions, 
the  Second  Helvetic.     We  may  say,  therefore,  that  about 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  405 

1560,  with  Anabaptism  destroyed,  Protestantism  was  organ- 
ized and  fully  armed  to  realize  its  hope  of  supremacy  in 
Christendom.  The  story  of  the  failure  of  this  hope  reads 
almost  like  a  tragedy. 

Some  pertinent,  questions. — It  is  fitting  that  at  this  point 
such  questions  as  the  following  should  be  raised:  Were  the 
state  churches  or  church-states  truly  organic  to  the  Protestant 
spirit  ?  Was  the  basis  of  membership  in  the  Protestant 
churches  a  compromise  between  the  new  spirit  and  the  founda- 
tion principles  of  the  Roman  church  ?  Were  the  demands  for 
acceptance  of  the  confessions  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of 
free  inquiry  that  awoke  in  the  Renaissance  and  prepared 
the  way  for  the  Reformation  ?  Were  the  very  methods  of 
Protestant  theology,  and  especially  the  methods  of  interpret- 
ing the  Scriptures,  consistent  with  the  spirit  of  religious  faith, 
or  did  they  represent  an  inharmonious  combination  of  Catholi- 
cism and  religious  individualism  ?  Our  present  study  con- 
cerns itself  with  the  beginning  of  the  movements  that  supply 
an  answer  to  these  questions. 

The  controversies  between  Dissenters  and  Churchmen  in 
England,  partly  preserved  in  such  collections  as  the  Hansard  KnoUys 
Library;  Strype's  Annals  of  the  Reformation  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press, 
1824),  and  Ecclesiastical  Memorials  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1822); 
'iiediVs  History  of  the  Puritans  (London:  Tegg,  1837),  or  Gardiner's  Cow- 
stitutional  Documents  Illustrative  of  the  Puritan  Revolution  or  the  contro- 
versies that  gathered  about  the  Arminian  movement  and  the  Synod 
of  Dort  in  Holland,  indicate  how  quickly  it  was  perceived  that  the 
Establishment  in  these  countries  failed  to  meet  the  conscience  of  large 
numbers  of  Protestants.  Harnack,  in  his  History  of  Dogma,  Vol.  VII, 
under  the  title  "The  Issue  of  Dogma  in  Protestantism,"  gives  a  valu- 
able estimate  of  the  doctrinal  decisions  from  the  Ritschlian  point  of  view. 

The  grafting  of  the  Protestant  ecclesiastico-political 
systems  on  the  Protestant  estimate  of  the  worth  of  the  indi- 
vidual  man  and  its  conviction  of  the  immediacy  of  his  relations 
with  God  seemed  to  necessitate  either  a  return  toward 
Catholicism  or  a  development  of  a  radical  Free-churchism 


4o6         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

and  democracy  in  religion,  science,  church,  and  state.  These 
two  tendencies  soon  appeared  in  great  force.  They  indicate 
the  two  main  contrary  movements  in  the  history  of  post- 
Reformation  Christendom.  The  first  of  these  tendencies 
is  seen  in  what  is  known  as  the  Counter- Reformation  in  the 
Cathohc  church.  It  merits  attention  here  because  of  its 
influence  on  Protestantism. 

A.      THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  COUNTER -REFORMATION  ON  THE 
COURSE  OF  PROTESTANTISM 

The  reason  for  the  Counter-Reformation. — The  first  step 
in  this  study  is  to  discover  how  there  came  to  be  a  Counter- 
Reformation.  The  answer  is  partly  indicated  in  the  life  and 
work  of  such  men  as  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  the  most  eminent 
European  scholar  of  the  times;  of  John  Colet,  the  scholar  and 
churchman  who  wrought  so  zealously  for  the  application  of 
the  methods  of  the  New  Learning  to  the  interpretation  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  of  Thomas  More,  the  scholar-statesman, 
both  of  Oxford,  and  both  zealous  for  reform  in  religion,  educa- 
tion, and  morals,  but  both,  like  Erasmus,  hoping  that  the 
change  would  come  from  within  the  church  and  not  by  the 
disruption  of  it;  of  Gaspero  Contarini,  the  moderate  and 
broad-minded  Italian  cardinal,  and  the  religious  association 
known  as  the  Oratory  of  Divine  Love  in  Italy;  of  Cardinal 
Ximines  and  his  co-religionists  in  Spain.  These  men  are 
representatives  of  a  large  number  of  men  of  high  character 
found  in  many  parts  of  Europe  who  strongly  demanded  a 
reformation  in  the  inner  life  and  government  of  the  church, 
but  whose  reverence  for  the  idea  of  the  unity  of  the  church  and 
for  its  embodiment  in  the  Catholic  church  and  whose  dread  of 
revolution  and  the  violent  uprising  of  democracy  prevented 
them  from  joining  the  Reformers  in  making  an  outward  breach 
in  the  Catholic  church.  When  the  breach  actually  came  it 
tended,  for  a  time  at  least,  to  accentuate  their  demands  and  to 
lead  to  an  actual  moral  reform  within  the  church.     The  move 


THE  TROTESTANT  REFORMATION  407 

for  a  doctrinal  reform  met  with  much  less  response  from  within 
the  church. 

Literature  bearing  on  the  Counter-Reformation  is  partly  to  be  found 
in  the  extensive  works  on  the  Renaissance.  Paul  Van  Dyke,  Age  of  the 
Renaissance  (New  York:  Scribner,  1897),  gives  a  summary  statement; 
Jacob  Burckhart,  The  Civilization  of  the  Renaissance  in  Italy,  English 
translation  (London,  Sonnenschein,  1890);  Symonds,  The  Renaissance  in 
Italy,  volume  entitled  The  Catholic  Reaction  (New  York:  Henry  Holt  & 
Co.,  1887),  are  more  elaborate.  The  shorter  works  bearing  directly 
on  the  Counter-Reformation  worthy  of  special  attention  are:  Seebohm, 
The  Oxford  Reformers  (London:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1887),  in 
which  the  work  of  Colet,  Erasmus,  and  More  is  extolled.  A.  Ward, 
The  Counter-Reformation  (London:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1889), 
gives  a  summary  account  of  the  whole  movement.  Lindsay,  History  of  the 
Reformation,  II,  501  ff.  (New  York:  Scribner,  1907),  furnishes  an  admi- 
rable sketch.  Special  attention  may  be  given  to  the  reforms  attempted 
by  Popes  Hadrian  VI  and  Paul  III.  The  following  may  also  be  consulted: 
Ranke,  Die  romischen  Papste,  ihre  Kirche  und  ihr  Staat  in  den  i6ten  mid 
lyten  Jahrhunderten  (Berlin:  Duncker,  1854-57;  English  translation, 
History  of  the  Popes  [LondiOn:  Bell,  1866]);  Dupin,  Histoire  de  I'eglise  du 
16^  siecle  (Paris,  1 701-13);  English  translation,  New  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory of  the  Sixteenth  Century  [London,  1703]);  Philippson,  La  Contre- 
Rcformation  religieuse  du  16^  siecle  (Brussels:  Muquardt,  Paris:  Alcan, 


It  should  be  noted  that  these  Catholic  reformers  had  more 
confidence  in  the  secular  government  as  an  instrument  for 
improvement  than  in  the  papacy.  The  student  will  trace 
the  division  in  the  Catholic  ranks  on  this  point,  the  conflict 
between  Emperor  Charles  V  and  the  papacy,  the  temporary 
ascendency  of  the  party  that  sought  to  conciliate  the  Protes- 
tants by  attempting  a  doctrinal  compromise,  the  abortive 
effort  at  the  conference  at  Regensburg  (Ratisbon)  in  1541-,  with 
Contarini  leading  the  Catholics  and  Melanchthon  the  Protes- 
tants, the  inevitable  split  on  the  question  of  transubstan- 
tiation,  the  disappointment  of  the  emperor  and  his  belated 
attempt  to  take  action  on  a  doctrinal  question  in  the  publica- 
tion of  the  famous  "Interim"  without  consulting  the  pope. 


4o8         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  reaction  after  Ratisbon  put  the  mihtant  Catholicism  of 
the  Spanish  type,  with  Cardinal  Caraffa,  later  Pope  Paul  IV,  as 
their  leader,  in  control.  Before  long  there  appeared  a  mili- 
tant Calvinism  leading  the  Protestants  and  a  militant  Jesu- 
itism leading  the  Catholic  reactionaries.  The  immediate 
outcome  is  best  seen  in  the  calling  of  the  so-called  Ecumenical 
Council  of  Trent  and  the  formation  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 
The  effect  of  these  Catholic  movements  on  the  succeeding  his- 
tory of  Protestantism  has  been  so  great  as  to  entitle  them  to 
special  consideration. 

I.  The  Society  of  Jesus  and  its  influence  in  the  early 
history  of  Protestantism:  The  inner  nature  of  Jesuitism. — 
The  first  step  toward  an  understanding  of  the  Jesuit  order  and 
its  doings  is  a  sympathetic  knowledge  of  the  career  and  spirit- 
ual experiences  of  its  founder,  the  Spanish  knight  Inigo  de 
Recalde  de  Loyola,  better  known,  through  his  renunciation  of 
knightly  dignity  and  his  assumption  of  the  name  of  St. 
Ignatius,  as  Ignatius  Loyola.  The  following  events  are  note- 
worthy: his  early  military  crusading  career;  its  termination 
by  a  crippling  wound;  his  retirement,  wholly  in  accordance 
with  the  Catholic  monastic  ideal,  to  meditation;  his  striking 
religious  experiences,  so  much  like  Luther's  and  yet  so  differ- 
ent in  their  ultimate  direction;  his  devotion  to  a  vain  effort 
to  evangelize  the  Turks ;  his  studies  at  Paris;  his  organization 
of  the  new  monastic  order  in  1534;  and  his  success,  in  1540, 
after  earlier  disappointments,  in  obtaining  the  papal  recog- 
nition. Note  the  names  of  the  other  nine  constituent  members 
(nearly  all  of  them  Spaniards  or  Portuguese) ,  especially  Francis 
Xavier,  the  most  famous  next  to  Loyola,  and  trace  the  story 
of  their  personal  achievements. 

Such  questions  as  the  following  are  hereby  suggested: 
the  relation  of  Jesuitism  to  the  mediaeval  crusading  spirit; 
its  embodiment  of  Spanish  militant  Catholicism;  its  likeness 
to  and  contrast  with  earlier  monastic  orders;    its  value  to 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  409 

the  student  as  an  interpretation  of  the  true  character  of 
Roman  Catholicism. 

The  next  step  is  an  analysis  and  interpretation  of  the  inner 
nature  of  the  Jesuit  movement.  For  this  a  thorough  examina- 
tion of  Loyola's  Spiritual  Exercises  is  indispensable.  Note 
the  intensity  of  the  psychic  processes  resorted  to,  the  keen 
insight  into  the  relation  between  physical  and  psychical 
conditions,  the  attempt  to  control  the  will  through  the 
imagination,  the  lurid  character  of  many  of  the  forms  of  the 
latter,  the  emphasis  on  training  rather  than  culture,  the  su- 
preme place  of  the  obligation  of  unquestioning  obedience, 
the  aim  to  develop  ultimately  a  perfectly  effective  mechanism. 

Growing  out  of  this  is  a  view  of  the  system  of  organization 
of  the  Jesuits  and  its  relation  to  the  existent  ecclesiastical 
order,  of  the  conflicts  within  Catholicism  growing  out  of  its 
pretensions  and  its  aim  to  control  the  entire  policy  of  the 
Catholic  church,  of  its  conscientious  subordination  of  moral 
standards  to  this  one  end  of  making  Catholicism,  according 
to  the  Jesuit  interpretation  of  it,  absolute  in  the  world. 
Note  the  strict  limitation  of  the  privileges  of  membership  to 
the  truly  competent,  the  slow  advancement  through  the 
successive  degrees,  the  small  number  of  Jesuits  at  any  time, 
the  methods  of  operation,  many  of  them  unscrupulous  and 
clandestine,  their  absolute  intolerance  and  pitilessness  toward 
Protestants.  A  Jesuitized  Catholic  church  would  seem  to  be 
an  irresistible  military  power. 

Propaganda. — A  further  step  is  the  tracing  of  the  course 
of  the  Jesuit  propaganda.  The  disintegration  of  Protestant- 
ism at  the  hands  of  Jesuitism  is  remarkable.  Note  how  the 
basic  principle  of  the  Peace  of  Augsburg,  Cujus  regio,  ejus 
religio,  exposed  the  Lutheran  state  churches  in  particular 
to  their  attack.  Hence  the  attempts  to  convert  princes, 
the  special  interest  in  the  growing  boy-princes,  the  attempt 
to   control   the   schools,    the    institution    of    Jesuit   colleges 


4IO        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

in  many  lands,  and  the  mastery  of  colleges  already  in  exist- 
ence. Finally,  note  the  successive  revolutions,  the  religious 
wars,  and  their  outcome.  The  student  will  note  the  Jesuit 
influence  in  the  colleges  and  universities  at  Ingoldstadt, 
Cologne,  Vienna,  Prague,  Douay,  Rome,  Lyons,  Briinn. 
He  will  trace  their  success  in  Hungary,  Poland,  Moravia, 
Siebenburgen,  Upper  Austria,  Southern  Germany,  Belgium, 
where  Protestants  had  had  a  powerful  hold,  and  in  Spain, 
Italy,  Portugal,  and  France,  where  there  had  been  hope  of  a 
reformation,  and  particularly  in  the  terrible  struggle  in 
Holland.  He  will  observe  how  Protestantism  had  to  fight  for 
•its  very  existence,  even  where  it  had  been  strongly  established. 
The  story  of  the  desolating  Thirty  Years'  War  reflects  the 
culmination  of  the  early  work  of  the  Jesuits. 

It  will  be  well  to  notice  in  this  connection  the  contrast 
between  the  Lutheran  countries  and  the  countries  under 
the  influence  of  Calvinism  with  its  more  vigorous  moral  fiber. 
It  would  seem  that  but  for  the  latter  Protestantism  might 
have  been  extingu'shed.  The  Peace  of  Westphalia,  syn- 
chronous with  the  beheading  of  Charles  I  of  England,  marks 
the  failure  of  the  Protestant  ecclesiastico-political  settlement 
as  well  as  of  the  Jesuit  policy  to  dominate  Europe. 

Literature  on  this  subject  is  extremely  extensive.  Much  of  it  is  con- 
troversial, and  not  a  little  of  uncertain  value,  because  of  the  secrecy  of 
the  Jesuit  order  and  its  habit  of  denying  the  authenticity  of  what  is 
afi&rmed  concerning  its  inner  character  and  methods.  Collections  of 
materials  for  a  general  study  of  the  Counter-Reformation  are  of  value 
in  the  study  of  Jesuitism  as  sources,  such  as  those  made  by  Laemmer, 
Monumenta  Vaticana  historiam  ecclesiasticam  saec.  xvi  illustrantia 
(Freiburg:  Herder,  1861);  and  Weiss,  Papiers  d'etat  du  cardinal  de 
Granville,  etc.  (Paris:  Imprimerie  royale,  1841-52).  The  Exercitia 
Spiritualia  composed  by  Loyola,  partly  based  on  Thomas  a  Kempis' 
Imitatio  Christi,  are  indispensable.  They  may  be  found  in  an  English 
translation  by  Charles  Seager  (London :  Dolman,  1849) .  Regulae  Soc.  Jesu 
(London,  1604)  and  Secreta  Monita  Soc.  Jesu  (Latin  and  English,  Balti- 
more, 1835)  may  be  used,  with  hesitancy,  owing  to  questions  of  genuine- 
ness.    DoUinger   und   Reusch,   Geschichte  der  Moralstreitigkciten,   etc. 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  411 

(Miinchen:  Beck,  1889);  Beusch,  Der  Index  der  verbotenen  Biicher 
(Bonn:  Cohen,  1883);  Cardinal  Bellarmine,  Opera  Omnia  (1620),  give 
full  material  for  an  acquaintance  with  the  controversies  of  early  Jesuit- 
ism. A  compendium  of  the  last  mentioned,  by  J.  de  La  Serviere,  under 
the  title  La  Theologie  de  Bellarmine  (Paris,  1909),  is  invaluable  for  the 
average  student  who  knows  French.  Histories  of  Jesuitism  by  Chem- 
nitz, Theologiae  Jesuitarum  brevis  ac  nervosa  descriptio  et  delineatio, 
2d  ed.  (Frankfurt  and  Wittenberg,  1690),  London,  1848;  and  by 
Taunton,  History  of  the  Jesuits  in  England  (London:  Methuen,  1901); 
examinations  of  their  educational  methods  by  Cartwright,  The  Jesuits, 
Their  Constitution  and  Teaching  (London:  Murray,  1876),  and  by 
Thomas  Hughes,  Loyola  and  the  Educational  System  of  the  Jesuits  (New 
York:  Scribner,  1899),  ^rid  the  terrible  arraignment  of  their  principles 
by  Pascal  in  his  Provincial  Letters,  should  be  read. 

2.  The  Council  of  Trent:  the  effect  of  its  canons  and 
decrees. — ^The  calling  of  the  so-called  Ecumenical  Council 
of  Trent  was  the  natural  sequel  to  the  failure  at  Ratisbon  and 
marked  the  reaction  toward  a  stern  and  intolerant  antagonism 
against  Protestantism.  There  are  three  outstanding  facts 
to  be  noted  at  the  outset:  first,  the  place  of  assembly,  a  city  in 
Austrian  territory,  a  Catholic  city,  but  under  imperial  author- 
ity, indicating  the  continuance  of  the  strife  between  emperor 
and  pope,  with  the  failure  of  the  repeated  attempts  of  the 
pope  to  change  the  place  of  meeting;  secondly,  the  time,  lasting 
from  1548  to  1563,  the  most  critical  time  in  the  history  of 
early  Protestantism,  with  both  Protestants  and  Catholics 
laying  down  fixed  policies;  thirdly,  the  dominance,  as  above 
described,  of  the  reactionary  party  in  the  sessions  of  the 
Council,  and  the  disappearance  presently  of  the  Protestants 
from  the  Council.  This  issued  in  making  the  aim  of  the 
Council  to  be  the  vindication  of  mediaevalism  and  the  con- 
demnation of  Protestantism. 

The  student  will  observe  that  the  question  of  the  primacy 
of  the  two  principal  demands  to  be  met,  namely,  whether  the 
interest  of  the  church  as  an  institution,  or  the  moral  and  reli- 
gious longings  of  the  time,  should  receive  first  attention,  and 
the  decision  in  favor  of  the  former,  were  fateful.     He  will  be 


412         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

able  to  estimate  the  value  of  the  doctrinal  canons  and  decrees 
in  that  light,  the  aim  being  to  condemn  the  enemy  rather  than 
to  enlighten  the  world.     The  polemical  purpose  is  clear. 

Note,  next,  the  immediate  achievements  of  the  Council: 
First,  it  gained  the  credit  of  stating  the  Catholic  doctrine  fully 
and  of  vindicating  its  claim  to  be  the  sole  Christian  expression 
of  faith.  To  understand  these  canons  and  decrees  the  student 
must  master  the  political  and  intellectual  situation.  Secondly, 
it  gained  credit  for  moral  reform  by  pronouncements  against 
some  evils  then  current  in  the  church.  The  Catholic  church 
appeared  as  the  custodian  of  morals.  Thirdly,  the  Council 
distinctly  shaped  the  policy  of  the  church  in  the  direction  of 
Curialism  and  Vaticanism.  Note  the  following  facts:  the 
presence  of  Jesuit  theologians  in  the  Council  as  the  special 
representatives  of  the  papacy ;  the  decision  that  the  initiative 
in  all  reforms  lies  with  the  pope  and  cardinals  and  not  with 
secular  authorities;  the  leaving  of  final  interpretation  of  the 
canons  and  decrees  with  the  pope. 

The  revival  of  Roman  Catholicism  that  followed  the  action 
of  the  Council  may  be  traced  in  the  attempts  of  Charles  V  to 
enforce  rigorously  the  earlier  decisions  of  the  Council  in  the 
Netherlands  and  in  the  still  more  ruthless  work  of  his  son 
Philip  II  in  the  Netherlands  and  Spain;  in  the  fearful  wars  of 
religion  in  the  Low  Countries,  in  France,  and  on  the  seas 
between  England  and  Spain,  with  their  tremendous  results 
religiously  and  poHtically ;  in  the  reconquest  (referred  to  in  the 
study  of  Jesuitism)  of  vast  regions  from  Protestantism,  in  the 
continuation  of  the  mediaeval  mind  in  Roman  Catholicism, 
and  in  the  culmination  of  Catholic  ecclesiasticism  in  the  papal 
decree  of  infallibility  in  1870. 

The  effect  on  the  inner  life  and  thought  of  Protestant- 
ism is  not  to  be  overlooked  in  this  connection — the  accen- 
tuation of  the  controversial  spirit,  the  hardening  of  Protestant 
faith  into  fixed  dogma,  and  the  fresh  impetus  given  by  reaction 
to  the  radical  tendencies  already  operative  in  the  Protestant 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  413 

communities  (to  be  treated  in  what  follows).  The  organiza- 
tion and  papal  recognition  of  the  Jesuit  order  and  the  meeting 
of  the  Council  of  Trent  may  be  regarded  as  the  two  acts  that 
went  to  create  an  unbridgeable  chasm  between  Romanism  and 
Protestantism  and  permanently  divided  Western  Christendom 
into  two  warring  camps  by  bringing  into  clear  consciousness 
the  irreconcilable  antagonism  in  fundamental  principle. 

Literature. — There  is  an  enormous  amount  of  material  for  a  study 
of  the  Council  of  Trent.  For  an  extended  study  the  following  sources 
should  be  consulted:  Mansi,  Colledio  amplissima  Conciliorum,  Vol. 
XXXIII  (Paris:  Welter),  Vol.  X  (Paris:  Harduin,  1715).  On  the 
Council  of  Trent  consult  Le  Plat,  Amplissima  Colledio,  etc..  Vols.  I- 

VII  (Paris,  1781-87);  Sarpi,  Istoria  del  concilio  Tridentino;  English 
translation  from  Italian,  History  of  the  Council  of  Trent  (London,  1676); 
also  Historia  dell'  Inquisizione,  translated  into  English  by  Gentilis,  The 
History  of  the  Inquisition  (London,  1639).  On  creeds  and  confessions  see 
Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom,  Vol.  II  (New  York:  Harper,  1877); 
W.  H.  Curtis,  A  History  of  Creeds  and  Confessions  of  Faith  in  Christen- 
dom and  Beyond  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  191 1);  Winer,  Comparative  Dar- 
stellung  der  Lehrbegriffe  der  verschiedenen  christlichen  Kirchenparteien 
(Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1882;  English  translation,  ^  View  of  Dodrines  and 
Confessions  of  Christendom  [London:  Simpkin,  1887]);  Waterworth, 
Canons  and  Decrees  of  the  Sacred  Ecumenical  Council  of  Trent  (London : 
Dolman,  1848);  also  accounts  by  Dollinger,  Beitrdge  zur  politischen, 
kirchlichen   und  Kulturgeschichte  der   sechs   letzten  Jahrhunderte,   Vol. 

VIII  (Regensburg:  Mainz,  1862-82);  Du  Bose,  The  Ecumenical  Councils 
(New  York:  Christian  Literature  Co.,  1896);  Harnack,  History  of  Doc- 
trine, Vol.  VII;  Froude,  Lectures  on  the  Council  of  Trent  (London: 
Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1898);  and  Littledale,  A  Short  History  of  the 
Council  of  Trent  (New  York:  Gorham,  1888).  A  succinct  summary  of 
the  reforms  of  the  Council  is  given  by  Newman,  Manual  of  Church 
History,  II,  360  ff.  (Philadelphia:  American  Baptist  Pub.  Soc,  1903). 

For  an  adequate  view  of  the  papal  Inquisition  the  student  should 
become  familiar  with  the  great  work  of  Henry  C.  Lea  on  the  Inquisition  of 
the  Middle  Ages  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1906),  which  has  been  followed 
by  his  History  of  the  Inquisition  in  Spain  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1907). 
See  also  histories  of  the  Inquisition  by  Rule,  History  of  the  Inquisition, 
(London:  Hamilton,  1874);  Lavalee,  Histoire  des  Inquisitions,  etc. 
(Paris,  1809) ;  Shafer,  Beitrdge  zur  Geschichte  des  spanischen  Protestantis- 
mus,  etc.   (Giitersloh:    Bertelsmann,   1906).     For  the  history  of  the 


414        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Roman  church's  Indexes  read  Putnam,  The  Censorship  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  and  Its  Influence  upon  the  Production  and  Distribution  of  Literature 
(New  York:  Putnam,  1906).  Among  the  various  collections  of  Indexes 
that  have  appeared  that  of  Reusch,  Der  Index  der  verbotenen  Biicher 
(Bonn:   Cohen,  1885),  is  considered  of  extreme  value. 

The  story  of  the  religious  wars  that  issued  from  these  ecclesiastical 
conflicts  pertains  largely  to  political  and  economic  history,  but  merits 
the  close  attention  of  the  student  of  church  history.  In  this  connection 
the  following  are  important:  Motley,  The  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic 
(New  York:  Harper,  1867);  'Qdaxdi,  History  of  the  Rise  of  the  Huguenots  of 
France  (New  York:  Scribner,  1879),  and  The  Huguenots  and  Henry  of  Na- 
varre (New  York:  Scribner,  1886);  Thompson,  The  Wars  of  Religion  in 
France  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909) ;  and  Gardiner, 
The  Thirty  Years'  War  (New  York:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1875). 

B.      UNDERMINING  OF  PROTESTANT  ORTHODOXY  BY  INTELLECTUALISM 

The  Reformation  released  intellectual  forces  that  had 
been  held  in  leash  more  or  less  successfully  by  Catholicism 
but  were  increasing  in  power  and  contributed,  as  we  have 
seen,  to  the  Protestant  movement.  It  was  to  be  expected 
that  the  free  spirits  that  shared  in  the  joy  of  the  New  Learn- 
ing should  resent  the  restraint  upon  free  thought  which  issued 
from  the  establishment  of  state  churches.  The  struggle  for  a 
larger  freedom  may  be  regarded  as  twofold,  according  as 
the  interests  of  intellectual  liberty  or  the  "interests  of  religious 
liberty  were  mainly  cherished.  Though  the  two  phases  are 
closely  allied,  it  will  be  profitable  for  the  student  to  examine 
them,  as  far  as  possible,  separately. 

The  first  of  these  stands  in  relation  with  the  speculations 
of  John  Duns  Scotus,  with  the  Renaissance  and  its  love  for 
unlimited  inquiry,  and  with  the  prevailing  individualism  of  the 
early  stages  of  the  Reformation  itself.  It  will  be  profitable  to 
distinguish  three  different  lines  along  which  opposition  of 
an  intellectual  character  arose  from  within  Protestantism 
against  the  established  forms  of  belief:  first,  the  direct 
attack  of  rationalistic  criticism;  secondly,  the  reaction  against 
the   doctrinal   controversies   among   Protestant   theologians; 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  415 

thirdly,  the  discrediting  of  orthodoxy  through  the  progress 
of  scientific  knowledge.  Each  of  these  is  worthy  of  prolonged 
study. 

I.  The  direct  attack  of  rationalistic  criticism. — The 
student  will  note  the  countries  in  which  it  was  most  active — 
especially  Italy,  Poland,  and,  in  a  lesser  degree,  France  and 
Spain — and  judge  how  far  they  had  participated  in  the  deeper 
religious  spirit  of  the  Reformation.  He  will  note  also  the 
connection  of  some  of  the  leaders  with  Calvinism  and  judge 
how.  far  this  rationalism  was  a  natural  outcome  of  Calvinism. 
He  will  examine  particularly  the  economic,  political,  and 
spiritual  situation  in  Poland,  the  movement  of  Italian  reform- 
ers to  Poland,  and  the  connection  between  Polish  Anti- 
paedobaptists  and  the  Antipaedobaptists  of  Holland  and 
England. 

The  following  names  attract  special  attention:  Camillo 
Renato,  Tiziano,  and  Pietro  Manelfi  in  Italy.  The  disclosures 
to  the  Papal  Inquisition  by  the  last,  supply  the  basis  of  our 
knowledge  of  the  Italian  churches  of  this  type.  A  summary 
is  given  by  Newman,  History  of  Antipaedohaptism,  pp.  327  f. 
This  takes  us  only  to  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Among  the  Italians  who  migrated  to  Poland,  Peter  Gonesius, 
George  Biandrata,  Laelius  Socinus,  and  Faustus  Socinus  are 
the  most  important. 

The  most  valuable  statement  of  the  views  that  were  held  by 
the  churches  of  Poland  that  followed  the  teachings  of  the 
Socini  is  found  in  the  Racovian  Catechism.  This  work 
exhibits  the  views  of  the  Unitarian  churches  which  the 
younger  Socinus  united  in  one  body.  It  sets  forth  their 
methods  of  doctrinal  formulation,  and  their  views  in  detail, 
with  great  ability.  It  deserves  minute  study  as  the  principal 
rationalistic  polemic  of  the  earlier  days  against  Protestant 
orthodoxy.  The  influence  of  this  polemic  is  to  be  traced  all 
through  later  Protestantism.  An  indication  of  its  early 
impression  is  found  in  the  reply  which  the  great  Dutch  jurist, 


41 6        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Hugo  Grotius,  made  to  the  Socinian  objections  to  the  ortho- 
dox doctrine  of  atonement.  It  is  very  significant  that  in 
order  to  confute  them  he  had  to  meet  them  halfway  and  to 
reject  the  substitutionary  view  on  the  very  ground  urged 
by  them — that  it  was  neither  according  to  reason  nor  taught 
in  the  Scriptures. 

This  carries  us  to  the  attempt  to  rationaHze  Calvinism  in 
Holland,  known  as  Arminianism,  from  the  name  of  its  chief 
representative,  James  Arminius,  the  Calvinist  theologian  of 
Leyden.  The  study  of  Arminianism  pertains  more  particu- 
larly to  the  next-following  topic. 

Literature. — For  the  theological  views  of  the  Socinians  the  Racovian 
Catechism  (originally  written  in  1590  and  first  published  in  1609, 
with  a  historical  introduction  by  Rees  [London:  Longmans,  Green,  & 
Co.,  1818]),  is  the  most  valuable  work.  The  Bibliotheca  Fralrum 
Polonorum  (Amsterdam,  1656)  preserves  other  documents.  Foch, 
Der  Socinianismus  (Kiel:  Schroder,  1847),  is  a  standard  history. 
The  polemical  literature  is  plentiful  and  extends  into  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  work  of  Grotius  is  available  in  an  English  translation  by 
F.  H.  Foster  (Andover,  1889),  Defence  of  the  Catholic  Faith  concerning  the 
Satisfaction  of  Jesus  Christ  against  Faustus  Socinus.  J.  Owen's  works. 
Sceptics  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  and  Sceptics  of  the  French  Renaissance 
(London:  Sonnenscheui,  1893),  may  be  read  as  introductory  to  a  study 
of  the  whole  rationalist  movement.  The  interest  in  Servetus  is  indicated 
in  the  following:  Punjer,  De  Michaeli  Serveti  Doctrina  (Jena:  Dufft, 
1876);  E.  ToUin,  Das  Lehrsystem  Michael  Servets  (Giitersloh:  Bertels- 
mann, 1876);  Willis,  Servetus  and  Calvin  (London:  King,  1877). 

2.  Skeptical  reaction  caused  by  doctrinal  controversies 
among  the  orthodox. — The  doctrinal  precipitations  which 
appear  in  the  confessions  of  the  Protestant  state  churches 
were  attempts  to  consolidate  Protestantism  before  its  religious 
spirit  had  thoroughly  permeated  the  minds  of  the  leaders. 
An  outcome  of  this  is  to  be  seen  in  the  rise  of  a  Protestant 
scholasticism  that  viewed  doctrinal  statements  as  declaring 
saving  truth  in  itself  apart  from  the  religious  faith  that 
grounds  the  truth.  The  efforts  to  systematize  these  doctrines 
provoked  opposition  and  exasperating  controversies.     Space 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  417 

forbids  reference  to  these  in  detail.  For  convenience  the 
principal  disputes  may  be  arranged  under  the  following  heads : 
(a)  controversies  among  Lutherans;  {b)  controversies  between 
Lutherans  and  Calvinists;  (c)  controversies  of  Calvinism  in 
the  Netherlands;    (d)  controversies  of  Calvinism  in  England. 

Literature. — The  standard  works  on  church  history  give  a  general 
account,  the  best  being  that  of  Newman,  Manual  of  Church  History, 
II,  307-35,  4th  ed.  (Philadelphia:  American  Baptist  Pub.  Soc,  1903). 
Pertinent  articles  in  religious  encyclopedias  may  be  consulted.  Among 
the  histories  of  doctrine  see  Fisher,  History  of  Christian  Doctrine,  Part  HI, 
chaps,  vii  and  viii  (New  York:  Scribner,  1896),  but  more  particularly 
Dorner,  Geschichte  der  protestantischen  Theologie,  pp.  330-420  (Miinchen: 
Oldenburg,  1867). 

a)  Controversies  among  Lutherans. — The  following  pro- 
visional classification  may  serve  as  a  guide:  First,  contro- 
versies concerning  faith,  (i)  in  relation  to  law  and  good  works, 
(ii)  in  relation  to  justification,  sanctiiication,  and  the  mystical 
participation  in  the  divine  nature  of  Christ.  The  following 
disputants  merit  especial  attention:  Philip  Melanchthon, 
John  Agricola,  Georg  Major,  Nicholas  Armsdorf,  Andrias 
Osiander,  Francis  Stancarus,  Martin  Chemnitz,  and  Flacius. 
Secondly,  controversies  respecting  the  person  of  Christ,  or, 
more  especially,  respecting  the  Lutheran  idea  of  the  commu- 
nication of  idioms,  or  the  mutual  real  participation  of  the  hu- 
man and  divine  nature  in  Christ.  Here  again  the  name  of 
Chemnitz  figures,  and  also  the  names  of  James  Andreas  and 
Brenz,  Balthazar  Munzer,  et  al.  The  Formula  of  Concord, 
1576  and  1584,  which  attempted  to  mediate  and  settle  the 
disputes  by  prescribing  articles  on  original  sin,  free  will,  the 
righteousness  of  faith  before  God,  good  works,  law  and  gospel, 
the  Lord's  Supper,  the  person  of  Christ,  etc.,  should  be  care- 
fully studied.     See  Schaff ,  Creeds  of  Christendom,  III,  93  &. 

b)  Controversies  between  Lutherans  and  Calvinists. — These 
include,  besides  the  earlier  disputes  between  Lutherans  and 
reformed  theologians  referred  to  in  the  first  division  of  our 


41 8        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

study,  the  later  controversies  which-  arose  from  the  influence 
of  Calvinism  on  certain  Lutheran  theologians.  They  stand 
closely  related  to  the  controversies  among  Lutherans  noted 
above.  The  most  notable  of  these  is  known  as  the  Crypto- 
Calvinist  controversy,  which  concerns  the  question  of  the 
real  or  spiritual  presence  of  Christ  in  the  elements  of  the 
Supper.  Of  special  importance  here  is  the  growing  Cal- 
vinistic  tendency  of  Melanchthon.  The  question  of  pre- 
destination also  figured  in  the  controversies.  For  a  temporary 
doctrinal  outcome  read  the  Saxon  Visitation  Articles,  1592,  in 
Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom,  III,  181  ff.  The  disputes  in 
the  nature  of  the  case  were  interminable. 

c)  Controversies  among  Calvinists  in  the  Netherlands. — 
These  are  of  special  importance  because,  first,  in  the  ultimate 
adjudication  of  them  the  entire  Reformed  church  was  invited 
to  participate;  secondly,  because  the  Arminian  theology  out 
of  which  they  partly  sprang  has  continued  in  powerful  influence 
to  the  present. 

The  Arminian  controversy,  like  most  theological  con- 
troversies of  the  time,  must  be  studied  in  relation  to  the 
political  situation  in  the  countries  where  the  Reformed  church 
was  estabhshed,  and  particularly  in  Holland.  Note,  first,  the 
traditional  love  and  enjoyment  of  freedom  among  the  Dutch; 
secondly,  the  influence  of  the  Renaissance  (Erasmus)  there; 
thirdly,  the  vindication  of  Protestant  liberty  in  the  long  war 
with  Austria  and  Spain;  fourthly,  the  presence  of  religious 
dissenters  there;  fifthly,  the  determination  of  Maurice  of 
Nassau  to  turn  the  Dutch  Republic  into  a  monarchy,  and 
the  powerful  opposition  led  by  John  of  Barneveld.  The 
strict  Calvinists  came  into  line  with  the  monarchists,  and  the 
Arminians  with  the  republicans.  Each  of  these  features  of 
the  situation  demands  close  attention. 

Literature. — For  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  situation  in  the 
Netherlands,  especially  on  the  poHtical  side,  the  great  works  of  Motley- 
should  be  studied:  The  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic  {a.s  above);  History  of 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  419 

the  United  Netherlands  (New  York:    Harper,  1879);    Life  and  Death  of 
John  of  Barneveld  (New  York:   Harper,  1870). 

The  names  and  works  of  the  leading  theologians  and  of 
the  great  parties  to  the  controversy  should  be  familiar:  for 
the  Arminians,  James  Arminius,  Hugo  Grotius,  Episcopius, 
Limborch;  for  the  extreme  Calvinists,  Theodore  Beza,  John 
Piscator  (who  later  became  Arminian),  and  Gomarus.  The 
"Remonstrants"  and  " Contra-Remonstrants "  and  the  "five 
points"  of  Calvinism  about  which  the  controversy  gathered 
reveal  the  two  parties. 

Note  the  calling  of  the  Synod  of  Dort  (Dordrecht) ,  the  divi- 
sion of  the  Calvinists  that  comprised  it  into  Supra-Lapsarians 
and  Infra-Lapsarians,  the  canons  adopted  at  the  synod,  and 
the  persecution  of  the  Arminians.  Note  finally  the  survival 
of  Arminianism  and  its  powerful  influence  in  England  during 
the  time  of  the  early  Stuart  kings. 

Literature. — The  proceedings  of  the  synod  have  been  preserved  in 
Latin.  Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom,  Vol.  Ill,  gives  the  canons  in  full. 
The  works  of  the  Remonstrant  theologians  are  accessible  in  Latin  edi- 
tions, but  those  of  Arminius  are  given  in  English  translation  by  Nichols 
(London:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1825).  Grotius'  Defence  of  the 
Catholic  Faith  has  been  translated  by  Foster  (Andover,  1889).  For  a 
brief  history  of  Arminianism  read  G.  L.  Curtiss,  Arminianism  in 
History  (Cincinnati:    Methodist  Book  Concern, 


d)  Calvinist  controversies  in  England. — The  principal 
interest  these  have  for  us  lies  in  their  relation  to  the  formation 
of  separated  bodies  in  England  (for  which  see  below).  At 
this  point  we  are  concerned  with  the  theological  struggle 
between  hyper-Calvinism  and  Arminianism  (used,  in  a  wide 
sense,  of  the  moderate  Protestant  soteriology) .  Its  beginnings 
can  be  seen,  perhaps,  in  the  less  severe  Protestantism  of  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles  as  compared  with  that  of  the  Forty-two 
Articles.  The  actual  controversy  with  historical  Arminianism 
is  to  be  seen  in  the  Lambeth  Articles  composed  by  Whitaker. 
They  may  be  read  in  Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom,  Vol.  III. 


420        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  later  controversies  with  Arminianism  can  be  traced 
in  the  politico-ecclesiastical  struggle  between  the  Puritan 
Parliament  of  England  and  the  first  two  Stuart  kings.  The 
Commons  believed  that  the  growing  Arminianism  was  at  the 
bottom  a  subtle  reaction  toward  a  revived  Catholicism. 

Literature. — See  Gardiner,  Constitutional  Documents  of  the  Puritan 
Revolution  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1889).  Note,  e.g.,  "The  Resolu- 
tions on  Religion,"  pp.  77  ff.  ("the  subtle  and  pernicious  spreading  of  the 
Arminian  faction,"  p.  79),  "The  Grand  Remonstrance,"  pp.  202  fi., 
especially  p.  207.  The  Westminster  Confession  of  faith  (Schaff,  Creeds 
of  Christendom,  Vol.  Ill)  should  be  examined  in  this  connection. 

In  addition  to  the  standard  church  histories  the  following  are  valu- 
able: Masson,  Life  of  John  Milton  (London:  Macmillan,  1875-80); 
W.  H.  Frere,  The  English  Church  in  the  Reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  James  I 
(London:  Macmillan,  1904) ;  W.  H.  Hutton,  The  English  Church  from  the 
A  ccession  of  Charles  I  to  the  Death  of  A  nne  (London :  Macmillan,  1 903) . 

3.  The  discrediting  of  orthodoxy  through  the  progress  of 
scientific  knowledge. — Protestantism  owes  its  origin  in  part 
to  the  growth  of  the  spirit  of  free  discovery  and  enterprise. 
Yet  it  is  plain  to  a  student  of  the  Protestant  creeds  that  the 
claims  there  made  to  a  knowledge  of  the  higher  realities,  and 
the  view  of  the  world  running  through  the  creeds,  disclose  an 
inner  opposition  to  the  principles  and  methods  as  well  as  to 
the  results  already  recognized  by  science.  An  open  conflict 
was  inevitable. 

The  story  of  the  conflict  pertains  to  the  history  of  science 
rather  than  to  the  history  of  the  church,  since  it  is  generally  at 
bottom  a  conflict  between  a  newer  and  an  antiquated  science. 
The  outstanding  fact  is  the  movement  of  science  toward  the 
postulating  of  the  government  of  the  universe  by  immanent 
"natural"  law  rather  than  by  external  control  or  arbitrary 
interference  with  the  common  order  of  fixed  validity.  The 
result  was  the  creation  of  a  distrust  of  those  affirmations  of 
the  creeds  which  embodied  unscientific  views,  and  therewith 
the  rise  of  a  spirit  of  skepticism  toward  all  claims  of  pos- 
session of  any  supernatural  revelation  whatsoever.     Such  a 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  421 

position  undermined  the   church  establishments   that  made 
these  doctrines  their  basis  of  truth. 

Literature. — The  whole  subject  has  been  treated  at  great  length  by 
A.  D.  White  in  A  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology  in 
Christefidom  (New  York:  Appleton,  1896).  A  smaller  work,  in  the 
"International  Science  Series,"  by  J.  W.  Draper,  History  of  the  Conflict 
between  Religion  and  Science  (New  York:  Appleton,  1875),  unhappily 
identifies  religion  and  theology.  The  student  may  become  acquainted 
with  the  growing  consciousness  of  a  purely  scientific  method  by  a  knowl- 
edge of  Francis  Bacon's  Novum  Organum. 

The  study  of  the  skeptical  reaction  that  followed  in  the 
wake  of  the  Reformation  carries  us  rather  beyond  the  limits 
of  our  period.  It  embraces  the  rise  of  modern  philosophy  in 
its  efforts  to  lay  a  new  foundation  for  certainty  by  proceeding 
through  doubt  to  empirical  investigation  and  rational  specula- 
tion, and  more  particularly  the  history  of  empiricism  and 
deism  in  England,  of  the  enlightenment  in  Germany,  and  of 
infidelity  in  France. 

Literature. — Lecky,  History  of  Rationalism  in  Europe  (London: 
Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1867),  and  Hurst,  History  of  Rationalism 
(Cincinnati:  Methodist  Book  Concern,  1901),  are  good.  One  should 
consult  the  standard  histories  of  philosophy,  especially  the  portions  of 
Windelband  and  Hoffding  dealing  with  this  subject.  The  old  work  of 
Leland,  On  the  Deistical  Writers  (London,  1754-56),  and  Oman,  The 
Problem  of  Faith  and  Freedom  (London:  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1906), 
are  valuable,  but  a  first-hand  acquaintance  with  the  writers  of  the  period 
is  indispensable  to  an  appreciation  of  the  movement. 

C.   THREATENED  DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  PROTESTANT  STATE  CHURCHES 
THROUGH  THE  RISE  OF  THE  FREE  CHURCHES 

The  struggle  precipitated  by  the  rise  of  the  Free  churches 
is  to  be  contrasted  in  its  inner  character  with  the  two  forms  of 
opposition  to  the  Protestant  establishments  above  discussed, 
in  that,  while  the  first  (A)  appeared  to  be  mainly  between  rival 
forms  of  ecclesiasticism  and  concerned  directly  the  lawyers  and 
statesmen  of  the  churches,  and  the  second  (B)  appeared  mainly 
as  a  protest  from  within  Protestantism  against  the  unnatural 


422        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

bonds  placed  by  the  Reformation  church  creeds  upon  the 
action  of  human  intelligence  and  concerned  principally  the 
intellectuals  among  the  people,  that  now  to  be  discussed 
related  to  a  specifically  religious  interest  and  had  its  roots 
in  the  free  spontaneous  faith  of  the  common  people  and,  con- 
sequently, was  more  radical  and"  comprehensive  in  its  scope. 
The  limitation  of  our  study  to  the  period  of  the  Reformation 
confines  our  attention  to  the  beginnings  of  the  movement, 
which  is  still  progressing. 

The  first  step  in  this  study  is  to  review  the  record  of  the 
origin  and  progress  of  those  voluntaristic,  individualistic, 
democratic  religious  groups  or  orders  or  communions  that 
underlay  much  of  the  Reformation  and  persisted  through 
its  course,  despite  severe  measures  of  repression  taken  by 
both  Catholics  and  Protestants  (see  division  I  of  this  outline) . 
The  tendency  native  to  Protestantism,  to  create  free  churches, 
is  to  be  noted;  e.g.,  its  insistence  on  using  the  Bible  in  the 
vernacular,  its  profession  of  the  right  of  private  judgment  in 
religious  matters,  its  nurture  of  a  warm  personal  faith,  its 
elevation  of  the  laity  to  equality  with  the  clergy  in  religious 
and  ecclesiastical  affairs.  Note  further  how  the  spirit  of 
individual  enterprise  in  the  maritime  Protestant  countries 
co-operated  in  the  same  direction  and  prepared  asylums  for 
the  spirit  of  religious  liberty. 

Interest  centers  mainly  in  the  English  and  Dutch  people. 
Observe  how  the  struggle  with  Spain  had  strengthened  their 
mutual  sympathy  and  developed  intimate  commercial,  social, 
and  political  intercourse.  It  will  be  noticed  how  the  religious 
radical  when  persecuted  in  one  of  these  countries  fled  to  the 
other  or  even  to  colonies  across  the  sea — e.g.,  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  of  New  England. 

Literature. — A  very  extensive  literature  has  accumulated.  The 
state  papers  of  the  countries  concerned  exhibit  the  steps  taken  by  their 
governments  and  indicate  to  some  extent  the  character  of  the  dissenting 
movements.     Foxe's  Acts  and  Monuments  (London,  1570-),  Strype's  An- 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  423 

nals  of  the  Reformation  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1824)  and  Ecclesiastical 
Memorials  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1822),  works  of  the  Reformers 
collected  and  edited  by  the  Parker  Society,  and  of  the  early  Baptists 
collected  and  edited  by  the  Hanserd  KnoUys  Society,  are  fundamental  to 
a  first-hand  knowledge.  To  these  may  be  added,  among  earlier  works, 
Thomas  Fuller,  The  Church  Hisiory  oj  Great  Britain  from  the  Birth  of 
Jesus  Christ  until  the  Year  1648  (London:  Hopton,  1662) ;  Jeremy  Collier, 
An  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Great  Britain,  etc.,  recent  edition  (London: 
1852);  Crosby,  History  of  the  English  Baptists  (London,  1738);  John 
Evans,  A  Brief  Sketch  of  the  Several  Denominations  into  Which  the  World 
Is  Divided  (London,  1795);  Joseph  Ivimey,  A  History  of  the  English 
Baptists  (London,  181 1);  Neal's  great  History  of  the  Puritans  (London: 
Tegg,  1837).  Recent  works  are  numerous,  but  among  them  Dexter, 
Congregationalism  as  Seen  in  Its  Literature  (New  York:  Harper, 
1880);  Walker,  Creeds  and  Platforms  of  Congregationalism  (New  York: 
Scribner,  1893);  and  McGlothlin,  Baptist  Confessions  of  Faith  (Phila- 
delphia: American  Baptist  Pub.  Soc,  191 1),  are  of  much  value. 
Newman,  History  of  Antipaedobaptism  (Philadelphia:  American  Bap- 
tist Pub.  Soc,  1897),  particularly  the  last  three  chapters,  traces  the 
rise  of  the  Baptists  in  England. 

I .  Growth  of  the  Free-church  ideal  m  England. — The  most 
noteworthy  growth  of  Free-churchism  is  in  England,  and  its 
relation  to  the  Protestant  establishments  is  seen  to  best  advan- 
tage there.  Beginning  with  the  authorization  of  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  as  the  only  legal  compendium  of  pubHc 
worship,  the  drafting  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  and,  for 
the  suppression  of  opposition,  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  the 
student  will  trace  four  stages  in  the  progress  of  dissent,  accord- 
ing to  the  degree  of  its  radicalism.  The  first  includes  those 
who  were  willing  to  accept  episcopacy  as  the  form  of  church 
government  but  sought  to  purify  the  doctrine  and  ritual  of 
the  Church  of  England  and  bring  it  into  harmony  with  the 
Reformed  churches — the  Puritans.  Here  we  see  the  influence 
of  Geneva  and  Scotland.  The  names  of  the  archbishops  of 
Canterbury  from  Parker  to  Bancroft  figure  in  these  con- 
troversies. The  Apology  of  Bishop  Jewel  and  The  Ecclesi- 
astical Polity  of  Richard  Hooker  set  forth  the  views  of  the 
moderate  Episcopalians.      The  works  of  Thomas  Cartwright, 


424        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  Lambeth  Articles  (see  Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom, 
Vol.  Ill),  and  the  Millenary  Petition  presented  to  James  I 
present  the  Puritan  view.  The  controversy  came  to  a 
head  through  the  ecclesiastical  administration  of  Laud  and 
culminated  in  the  great  civil  war.  For  this  the  standard 
political  histories  are  available.  The  student  will  note  the 
rise  of  a  persistent  division  within  the  established  church — 
the  High  Church  and  the  Broad  Church  parties.  Recon- 
ciliation has  proved  impossible. 

2.  Presbyterianism. — The  second  stage  of  dissent  is  held 
by  those  who  sought  to  bring  the  Church  of  England  into  full 
conformity  with  the  Reformed  conception  in  both  doctrine 
and  order — the  Presbyterians.  The  work  of  Walter  Travis, 
in  Latin,  on  church  discipline  opened  the  Presybterian  con- 
tention. The  bitter  attacks  on  the  bishops  made  by  the 
author  of  the  Martin  Mar  prelate  tracts  (perhaps  Henry 
Barrowe)  are  the  most  noteworthy  features  of  the  early  steps 
taken  by  Presbyterians.  The  names  of  the  three  martyrs, 
John  Greenwood,  Henry  Barrowe,  and  John  Penry,  are 
notable  in  this  connection,  as  are  also  those  of  Francis  John- 
son and  Henry  Ainsworth,  exiles  in  Holland.  The  full 
impact  of  the  Presbyterian  polemic  is  seen  in  the  attempt  to 
bring  the  whole  of  England  under  Presbyterianism  through 
the  alliance  of  the  English  Parliament  with  the  Scots.  The 
Longer  and  Shorter  Catechisms  and  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession are  monuments  of  the  struggle,  which  was  brought  to 
an  abrupt  close  by  Cromwell  and  the  army. 

Literature. — Gardiner,  Constitutional  Documents  of  the  Puritan 
Revolution  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1889),  gives  material  illustrative 
of  the  true  character  of  the  struggle  in  the  civil  war. 

3.  The  Independents. — In  the  third  stage  we  find  tnose 
who,  in  addition  to  practicing  the  "godly  discipline"  and 
plain  worship  of  the  Presbyterians,  claimed  the  right  of  all 
churches  of  the  regenerate  to  independent,  democratic  self- 
government  as  laid  down  in  the  New  Testament — ^the  Inde- 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  425 

pendents,  later  called  Congregationalists.  These,  however, 
still  held  to  the  propriety  of  enforcing  the  doctrines  and 
practices  of  the  Christian  faith  upon  all  inhabitants  of  the 
country.  The  first  noteworthy  advocate  of  these  views  was 
Robert  Browne — -hence  the  early  name,  "Brownists." 

Literature. — The  most  exhaustive  study  of  Browne  has  been  made 
by  Champlin  Burrage  in  The  True  Story  of  Robert  Browne:  The  Church 
Covenant  Idea  (Philadelphia:  American  Baptist  Pub.  Soc,  1904);  The 
Early  English  Dissenters  in  the  Light  of  Recent  Research  (Cambridge: 
University  Press,  1912);  The  Retractation  (Oxford:  Hart,  1907);  and 
other  studies. 

The  founding  of  a  Separatist  church  at  Norwich,  the  flight 
to  Middleburg  in  Zeeland,  the  change  in  Johnson  and  Ains- 
worth's  congregation  at  Amsterdam,  the  coming  of  John  Smith 
and  his  congregation  from  Gainsborough,  the  migration  of  the 
congregation  at  Scrooby  with  the  well-known  Brewster, 
Bradford,  and  Robinson,  of  Pilgrim  fame,  as  leaders,  and  the 
emigration  to  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  are  recounted  in 
numerous  works  noted  in  all  the  histories  of  Congregationalism 
and  of  the  founding  of  the  New  England  colonies.  The 
strenuous  part  played  by  the  Independents  in  the  civil  war 
under  Cromwell's  leadership  is  recognized  in  the  histories  of 
that  fight. 

Literature. — The  following  works  may  be  specially  noted:  Dale, 
History  of  Congregationalism,  especially  Bks.  I  and  II  (London:  Hod- 
der  &  Stoughton,  1907);  Dexter,  Story  of  the  Pilgrims  (Boston:  Con- 
gregational Publication  Soc,  1894);  Fletcher,  History  of  Independency 
(London:   Snow,  1847-49). 

4.  The  Baptists. — We  reach  a  fourth  stage  of  opposition 
to  the  state  church  when  we  find  many  Independents  becom- 
ing Baptists,  as  they  preferred  to  be  called,  rather  than 
Anabaptists.  The  story  of  John  Smith,  called  by  Dexter  the 
Se-Baptist,  his  relations  with  the  Mennonites,  the  separation 
from  him,  when  he  sought  baptismal  succession,  by  many 


426        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

who  followed  Thomas  Helwys  and  John  Murton  back  to 
England  in  1611,  and  the  growth  of  the  General  Baptists 
there,  is  related  by  the  Baptist  histories  above  named.  The 
student  will  note  the  rise  of  another  Baptist  body,  Particular 
Baptists,  so  called  from  the  view  of  atonement  held  by  them, 
springing  from  a  church  under  the  leadership  of  Henry 
Jacob.  It  is  important  to  study  the  Tracts  on  Liberty  of  Con- 
science collected  by  the  Hanserd  Knollys  Society,  especially 
Leonard  Busher's  Religion's  Peace  and  Roger  Williams' 
Bloody  Tenent  of  Persecution.  At  this  point  we  reach  the  limit 
of  our  study. 

The  student  should  not  leave  the  subject  without  raising 
the  question:  Which  of  these  four  movements  offers  the  best 
interpretation  of  the  inner  spirit  of  Protestantism  ? 

C.      SUMMARY   ESTLMATE    OF   THE   PR(5tESTANT   REFORMATION 

The  Protestant  Reformation  appears,  as  one  surveys  it 
from  the  distance  of  four  centuries,  to  have  been  one  of  those 
great  convulsions  of  human  society  which  occur  when  multi- 
tudes of  people  inhabiting  vast  contiguous  territories  come 
under  the  influence  of  a  common  impulse  to  seek  the  ful- 
filment of  the  meaning  of  life  in  new  directions.  Such  an 
impulse  is  sure  to  appear  as  mainly  iconoclastic  in  the  early 
stages  of  its  action,  because  existing  customs,  institutions,  and 
theories  stand  as  barriers  to  its  free  execution.  In  later 
stages  of  its  progress  its  creative  power  is  disclosed  in  the 
appearing  of  new  customs,  institutions,  and  doctrines  which 
displace  those  that  have  now  become  antiquated  to  some 
minds;  but  alongside  of  them  the  old  may  survive  and  even 
regain  new  vigor  by  contact  with  the  new. 

Thus  it  was  with  the  Reformation.  In  respect  both  to  the 
destructive  and  to  the  constructive  force  that  was  released 
it  was  less  effective  in  the  sixteenth  century  than  its  most 
enthusiastic  representatives  expected,  for  after  the  first 
shock  of  surprise  the  .conservative  influence  asserted  itself 


THE  PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  427 

with  much  success  and  forced  the  postponement  of  the  radical 
outworking  of  the  Protestant  principle  to  later  times. 

The  preceding  study  has  shown  that  the  factors  at  work 
were  many  and  diverse  in  their  empirical  origin.  The  ques- 
tioij  arises:  How  is  it  that  the  Reformation  has  been  tra- 
ditionally regarded  as  a  religious  movement  ?  The  answer 
must  be:  Because  it  really  was  such — ^not,  of  course,  in  the 
narrow  sense  of  a  distinctively  supernatural  impulse  separate 
from  the  motives  that  direct  men  in  common  affairs,  but  in 
the  sense  that  a  man's  religion  is  constituted  by  the  unification 
of  all  his  many-sided  activities  in  a  single  aim,  the  worship 
of  the  unseen  ideal.  The  true  genius  of  the  Reformation 
found  its  best  expression  in  the  religious  leaders  because 
they  most  truly  divined  its  secret  heart. 

Religiously  viewed,  then,  the  Reformation  was  an  attempt 
to  consecrate  the  supreme  worth  of  personality.  It  was  an 
effort  of  the  human  spirit  in  the  individual  to  affirm  the 
supremacy  of  the  personal  in  the  spiritual  and  material  realms. 
In  the  former  realm  it  took  the  form  of  a  conflict  between  the 
aggressive  spirit  of  the  self-conscious  man  and  the  structures 
of  thought  and  will  by  which  a  precedent  social  order  sought 
to  maintain  its  ancient  possessions  in  their  entirety  and  there- 
by to  hold  the  man  in  leash.  In  the  material  realm  it  was 
an  affirmation  of  the  essential  friendship  between  man  and 
"nature"  and  the  right  and  capacity  of  the  human  spirit  to 
make  "  nature  "  instrumental  to  the  achievement  of  the  destiny 
of  personality.  In  this  regard  it  may  be  described  as  an 
attempt  to  take  possession  of  the  material  world  as  a  means 
of  fulfilling  the  life  of  fellowship  with  God.  Its  God  was 
distinctly  personal  and  in  no  need  of  intermediaries  in  his 
approach  to  men.  He  wrought  in  them  immediately.  The 
immense  enterprises  that  awakened  in  Protestantism  were 
the  fruit  of  the  unconquerable  courage  that  the  new  religious 
spirit  created. 


VIII.     THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN 
CHRISTIANITY 

By  ERRETT  gates 

Instructor  in  History  and  Assistant  Professor  of  Church  History  in  the 

Disciples'  Divinity  House,  University  of  Chicago 


ANALYSIS 

Introduction:  The  Nature  and  Meaning  of  Modern  Christianity. — 
Definition. — Religion  and  culture  indissolubly  related. — Distinctive 
elements  of  modern  Christianity. — i.  The  element  of  liberty. — 
2.  The  element  of  scientific  veracity. — 3.  The  element  of  rationality. — 
4.  The  element  of  humanity. — 5.  The  element  of  spirituality  — 6.  The 
element  of  secularity. — 7.  The  element  of  social  responsibility. — 
8.  The  element  of  democracy. — 9.  The  element  of  catholicity. — 
10.  The  relation  of  modern  Christianity  to  Protestantism  and  to 
Catholicism 431-440 

I.  The  Politico-Ecclesiastical  Movement. — Liberty  of  conscience  in 
rehgion. — The  ancient  conception  of  religion  as  an  affair  of  the  state. 
— Christianity  a  religion  of  individual  conviction. — The  develop- 
ment of  the  idea  of  religious  liberty. — The  influence  of  the 
Protestant  Reformation. — The  movement  of  religious  dissent. 
— The  guaranty  of  religious  liberty  by  the  state. — Development  of 
religious  liberty  in  Protestantism 441-446 

II.  The  Scientific  Movement. — Scientific  method  welcomed  by 
modern  Christianity. — The  development  of  modem  science. — 
The  conflict  between  religion  and  science.^ — Attempt  at  harmoniza- 
tion.— The  present  relationship  between  Science  and  religion. — Some 
unsolved  problems 446-45  2 

III.  The  Philosophical  Movement. — The  problems  of  modern 
philosophy. — The  problem  of  knowledge. — The  rationaUstic  move- 
ment.^— Influence  of  rationalism  on  religious  thinking. — The  philo- 
sophical criticism  of  rationalism. — Kant. — Schleiermacher. — Ritschl    452-458 

IV.  The  Historical  Movement. — The  genetic  treatment  of  his- 
tory.— Development  of  historical  method. — The  principle  of  historical 
correlation. — The  principle  of  historical  development. — The  prin- 
ciple of  historical  uniformity. — The  historical  study  of  the  Bible. — 
History  of  biblical  criticism. — The  critical  study  of  church  history     458-466 

V.  The  Social  Movement. — The  sense  of  social  responsibility. — 
Elements  of  the  social  consciousness. — Sources  of  the  social  move- 
ment.— The  socializing  of  modern  Christianity. — The  development 
of  Christianity  from  a  dogmatic  to  an  ethical  interest. — The  practical 
testing  of  Christianity.^ — The  transition  from  an  ethical  to  a  social 
interest. — The  literary  prophets  of  the  social  ideal        ....     466-475 

VI.  The  Missionary  Movement. — The  influence  of  missionary 
ideals  on  modern  Christianity. — The  modification  of  missionary 
activities  due  to  modern  thought. — Factors  in  the  broader  view  of 
missions. — Some  problems  which  missionaries  must  face. — The 
study  of  comparative  religions  and  missionary  ideals. — A  new 
apologetic  for  Christianity. — The  need  of  social  salvation. — The 
movement  toward  Christian  union 475-482 


VIII.     THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN 
CHRISTIANITY 

INTRODUCTION 
THE   NATURE   AND   MEANING    OF   MODERN   CHRISTIANITY 

Definition. — The  term  "modern  Christianity"  is  used  in 
this  treatment  in  a  special  sense,  and  refers  to  the  principles, 
tendencies,  or  movements  which  have  sometimes  been  called 
"progressive  Christianity,"  "the  new  theology,"  or  "modern- 
ism." It  has  not  taken  institutional  form  in  any  organized 
denomination  nor  received  authoritative  expression  in  any 
system  of  doctrine.  It  is  rather  a  religious  attitude,  a  mode 
of  thought,  or  a  principle  of  action  manifesting  itself  in  all 
denominations  and  Christian  movements. 

Briefly  defined,  modern  Christianity  is  the  Christianity 
which  has  steadily  progressed  with  the  progress  of  modern 
civilization,  both  influencing  it  and  being  influenced  by  it. 
The  history  of  Western  Europe  since  the  introduction  of 
Christianity  shows  a  continuous  balance  between  the  church 
and  society,  religion  and  civilization.  Neither  at  any  time 
shows  any  great  difference  from  the  other.  Sometimes  one, 
sometimes  the  other,  may  be  leading,  but  they  are  never  com- 
pletely separated  from  each  other  in  character. 

Religion  and  culture  indissolubly  related. — It  is  impossible 
for  religion  or  the  church  to  move  on  apart  from  the  rest  of 
society.  The  religion  of  an  age  is  a  part  of  the  civilization  of 
an  age.  The  individuals  who  make  up  the  state  and  formulate 
the  politics  of  an  age,  or  compose  society  and  create  its 
social  consciousness,  make  up  the  church  and  formulate  its 
religious  thought.  The  same  individuals  are  at  the  same  time 
citizens,  merchants,  scholars,  soldiers,  and  worshipers,  and 
what  they  are  in  one  sphere  they  tend  to  be  in  all  other 

431 


432         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

spheres.     Society  is  a  solidarity,  and  religion  is  an  integral 
part  of  it. 

This  will  be  found  to  be  notably  true  of  modem  Chris- 
tianity. It  is  a  reflex  in  religious  thought  and  action  of  the 
modern  social  consciousness.  It  has  grown  out  of  a  deliberate 
acceptance  of  the  results  of  modern  progress  and  out  of  a 
conscious  effort  to  incorporate  all  of  the  assured  values  of 
modern  civilization  into  religion. 

DISTINCTIVE   ELEMENTS   OF   MODERN   CHRISTIANITY    • 

Since  modern  Christianity  is  not  an  organic  movement 
nor  a  formulated  system  of  doctrine,  it  can  be  summarized 
only  in  terms  of  certain  peculiar  principles  or  tendencies,  and 
these  cannot  be  stated  definitely  or  exhaustively,  but  only 
suggestively. 

No  definite  date  can  be  assigned  for  the  beginnings  of 
modern  Christianity.  Faint  intimations  of  it  lie  far  back 
in  the  mediaeval  period.  Its  more  rapid  course  of  develop- 
ment was  coincident  with  the  emancipation  of  the  human 
mind  and  society  from  the  control  of  the  mediaeval  church 
and  theology  in  the  sixteenth  century;  but  it  did  not  become 
conscious  of  itself  until  the  eighteenth  century.  The  nine- 
teenth century  witnessed  the  acceptance  of  all  of  its  essential 
principles  in  enlightened  religious  circles. 

Literature. — Troeltsch  has  attempted  a  formulation  of  the  tendencies 
^f  the  modern  reUgious  movement  in  several  treatises,  especially  in  his 
Protestantism  and  Progress  (New  York:  Putnam,  19 12),  which  should  be 
studied  with  painstaking  care.  On  p.  39  the  author  refers  to  several 
different  formulations  of  the  principles  of  modern  thought  which  he  has 
attempted,  thus  showing  how  differently  the  same  principles  may  be 
stated. 

In  this  connection  three  books  by  President  Henry  Churchill  King 
of  Oberlin  College  are  of  primary  importance:  his  Reconstruction  in 
Theology  (New  York:  MacmiUan,  1901);  Theology  and  the  Social  Con- 
sciousness (New  York:  Macmillan,  1902);  and  The  Moral  and  Religious 
Challenge  of  Our  Times  (New  York:   MacmiUan,  191 1). 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      433 

^  Professor  George  A.  Coe,  in  The  Religion  of  a  Mature  Mi  fid  (Chicago: 
Revell,  1902),  has  given  careful  and  discriminating  expression  to  several 
elements  of  modem  Christianity. 

Professor  Gerald  B.  Smith  has  studied  the  transforming  influence  of 
democratic  and  scientific  ideas  upon  ethics  and  theology  in  his  book  on 
Social  Idealism  atid  the  Changing  Theology  (New  York :  Macmillan,  19 13) . 

1.  The  element  of  liberty. — ^Liberty  in  modern  Chris- 
tianity has  a  wide  range  of  manifestations. 

In  its  general  theological  phase  it  is  the  right  claimed  by 
the  modern  religious  thinker  to  be  free  from  the  control  of 
authority,  or  the  disposition  to  subject  all  authorities,  whether 
the  Bible,  the  church,  tradition,  or  a  priori  "reason,"  to  the 
test  of  rationality  and  experience. 

In  its  politico-religious  phase  it  is  the  right  claimed  by  the 
individual  to  be  free  from  the  control  of  the  civil  authority  in 
his  belief  and  worship,  and  constitutes  "freedom  of  con- 
science." 

In  its  historico-bibhcal  phase  it  is  the  right  claimed  by  the 
scholar  to  study  the  Bible  as  any  other  literature,  and  con- 
stitutes "freedom  of  scholarship." 

In  its  ethical  form  it  is  the  right  to  be  inwardly  self- 
governed  in  the  choice  of -moral  aims  and  in  moral  conduct,  and 
constitutes  "freedom  of  will"  or  "moral  autonomy." 

Literature. — For  a  study  of  the  principle  of  liberty  in  its  general 
historic  relation  to  religious  authority  the  student  should  turn  to  Auguste 
Sabatier,  Religions  of  Authority  and  the  Religion  of  the  Spirit  (New  York: 
McClure,  Phillips  &  Co.,  1904).  Read  in  this  connection  chap,  iii  of 
Professor  Coe's  book  on  The  Religion  of  a  Mature  Mind  (Chicago:  Revell, 
1902);  and  Professor  W.  N.  Clarke's  An  Outline  of  Christian  Theology, 
pp.  10-53  (New  York:   Scribner,  1898). 

2.  The  element  of  scientific  veracity. — Veracity  enters 
intimately,  along  with  liberty,  into  every  phase  of  modern 
Christianity.  It  really  forms  the  moral  ground  for  the 
justification  of  liberty.  The  right  to  be  free  is  grounded  in 
the  duty  to  be  true  to  what  really  is;  that  is,  to  be  truthful. 
It  is  the  scientific  spirit. 


434        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

We  shall  see  this  element  of  veracity  especially  at  work 
in  the  field  of  biblical  study.  The  quest  for  what  is  really 
true  concerning  the  origin  and  history  of  the  books  of  the 
Bible  constitutes  its  aim  and  spirit,  and  the  discovery  of 
what  is  true  constitutes  the  reason  for  freedom  to  state 
what  is  discovered.  This  is  freedom  of  scholarship  as  under- 
stood by  all  modern  biblical  scholars. 

It  is  the  spirit  of  veracity  in  religious  belief  and  in  moral 
conduct  which  has  compelled  the  appeal  to  experience  as  a 
source  of  authority.  The  use  of  experience  in  ethics  and 
religion  corresponds  to  the  use  of  fact  in  science  and  of  event 
in  history.  Nothing  but  experience  will  yield  the  sense  of 
truth  and  reality,  and  nothing  but  reality  and  worth  can 
compel  veracity.  Hence  both  theology  and  ethics  have 
become  experimental  in  method. 

Literature. — H.  C.  King  has  called  attention  to  the  moral  basis  for 
the  scientific  method  in  The  Moral  and  Religious  Challenge  oj  Our  Times, 
chap,  iv  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1911). 

3.  The  element  of  rationality. — The  development  of 
modern  Christianity  has  been  characterized  by  an  increasing 
tendency  to  appeal  to  reason  as  a  criterion  of  the  truth. 
While  it  has  found  its  chief  sphere  of  application  in  the  field  of 
religious  thought,  no  element  of  religious  faith  or  practice 
has  escaped  its  influence.  The  beliefs,  the  ceremonies,  the 
customs,  the  institutions,  and  the  Hfe  of  religion  have  all  been 
subjected  to  its  testing.  The  tendency  of  the  modern  Chris- 
tian mind  is  to  accept  only  that  which  commends  itself  as  true, 
just,  and  good  in  the  light  of  experience  and  reflection.  It 
is  not  enough  that  a  belief,  ceremony,  or  institution  have 
the  sanction  of  authority  or  custom;  it  must  secure  the 
sanction  of  reason  by  proving  its  truth  or  its  worth. 

The  rise  of  Deism  in  the  seventeenth  century  was  the 
beginning  of  that  inexorable  demand  upon  religion,  in  modern 
times,  that  it  make  itself  entirely  rational. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY     435 

4.  The  element  of  humanity.  The  element  of  humanity, 
kindness,  or  sympathy  has  steadily  grown  in  importance 
as  a  criterion  of  good  morality  and  of  true  religion.  It  has 
grown  out  of  the  increasing  sense,  in  modern  times,  of  the 
dignity  and  sacredness  of  human  life.  The  growth  of  human- 
ity has  revolutionized  human  conduct  in  both  its  personal  and 
its  political  aspects.  It  has  at  the  same  time  revolutionized 
Christian  theology  and  activity.  It  lies  at  the  root  of  all 
modern  philanthropy  and  social  service,  whether  carried  on  by 
the  church,  by  the  state,  or  by  society  at  large. 

5.  The  element  of  spirituality. — Religion  has  tended  to 
grow  more  spiritual,  more  inward,  in  modern  times.  The 
essence  of  spirituality  consists  in  a  direct,  personal,  and 
inner  relation  to  God  as  opposed  to  a  magical,  cecemonial, 
or  "hierarchical  relation;  in  ethical  conduct  rather  than 
in  ecstatic  feeling  or  doctrinal  inerrancy.  As  to  form, 
spirituality  is  a  psychological  rather  than  a  physical  con- 
dition or  relation.  As  to  content,  it  is  grounded  in  a  good 
will  and  cannot  be  distinguished  from  a  truly  moral  life. 

Literature. — The  student  will  find  this  modern  conception  of  spiritu- 
ality set  forth  by  Professor  George  A,  Coe  in  his  book  on  The  Spiritual 
Life  (Chicago:  Revell,  1900),  and  in  chap,  v  of  The  Religion  of  a 
Mature  Mind  (Chicago:  Revell,  1902). 

6.  The  element  of  secularity. — ^A  greater  appreciation  of 
the  worth  and  sanctity  of  the  present  natural  order  enters 
pre-eminently  into  the  attitude  of  the  modern  Christian. 
The  secular  spirit  has  grown  as  the  ascetic  spirit  has  declined  in 
the  modern  world.  It  has  broken  down  the  sharp  antithesis 
between  sacred  and  secular,  the  present  and  the  future,  the 
heavenly  and  the  earthly,  the  inspired  and  the  uninspired, 
the  human  and  the  divine.  Several  ideas  have  wrought  in 
this  direction:  the  spiritual  conception  of  religion  has  made 
all  times  and  places  sacred;  the  concept  of  the  sovereignty  of 
the  individual  and  the  equality  of  all  men  have  made  all 
persons  sacred,  while  the  conception  of  the  divine  immanence 


436        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

has  made  both  ethical  and  metaphysical  dualism  incongruous. 
The  result  has  been  a  twofold  process — a.  secularization  of 
the  religious  and  a  sanctification  of  the  secular. 

Professor  Gerald  B.  Smith  characterizes  this  process  as  an 
"ethical  transformation"  under  the  influence  of  the  demo- 
cratic and  scientific  ideals,  and  says: 

Now  the  total  effect  of  those  movements  of  thought  and  of  social 
activity  which  make  up  what  we  call  the  modern  world  is  to  turn  atten- 
tion to  the  resources  of  this  world  and  to  discover  moral  values  in  the 
immanent  processes  of  human  evolution  [Social  Idealism  and  the 
Changing  Theology,  p.  211]. 

In  contrasting  the  points  of  difference  between  the  medi- 
aeval and  the  modern  world  Professor  Troeltsch  says: 

A  valuation  of  the  present  world  for  the  sake  of  the  riches  and  beauty 
of  the  world,  an  estimation  of  the  goods  attained  in  the  progress  of 
civilization  because  of  an  independent  ethical  value  attaching  to  them, 
is  consequently  impossible.  But  precisely  such  a  valuation  of  these 
things  is  the  characteristic  feature  of  the  modern  feeling  towards  the 
world  and  civilization  (Protestantism  and  Progress,  p.  77). 

Literature. — -For  a  further  treatment  of  the  modern  trend  toward 
an  ethical  secularism  in  opposition  to  asceticism  the  student  is  referred 
to  Gladden,  Ruling  Ideas  of  the  Present  Age  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin 
Co.,  1895);  Freemantle,  The  Gospel  of  the  Secular  Life  (London:  Cassell, 
1882);  Bowne,  The  Divine  Immanence  (Boston:  Houghton  MifHin  Co., 
1906);  and  G.  B.  Smith,  Social  Idealism  and  the  Changing  Theology, 
chap,  ii  (New  York:   Macmillan,  1913). 

7.  The  element  of  social  responsibility. — One  of  the 
most  significant  discoveries  of  the  modern  world  has  been 
the  fact  that  a  man's  life — his  moral,  intellectual,  economic, 
and  physical  life — ^is  socially  conditioned.  It  has  been  dis- 
covered that  it  is  not  enough  to  regenerate  the  individual; 
his  environment  must  also  be  regenerated — ^the  society  in 
which  he  lives,  Vv^ith  all  of  its  customs  and  institutions — -if  the 
regeneration  of  the  individual  is  to  be  permanent  and  com- 
plete. And  it  has  been  further  discovered  that  a  man  is  a 
unity;   he  is  not  merely  soul,  but  soul  and  body.     As  the 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      437 

individual  is  one  with  his  society,  so  the  soul  is  one  with 
the  body;  and  Christianity  has  therefore  a  social  as  well  as 
an  individual,  a  physical  as  well  as  a  spiritual,  task  in  the 
salvation  of  the  soul  (see  King,  Rational  Living). 

Literature. — The  student  will  find  the  libraries  filled  with  books  on 
this  theme,  and  a  growing  stream  of  them  issuing  from  the  press.  Among 
the  most  notable  of  the  earher  books  read  Freemantle,  The  World  as  the 
Subject  of  Redemption  (New  York:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1895); 
and  among  the  more  recent,  Walter  Rauschenbusch,  Christianity  and  the 
Social  Crisis  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1907),  and  Christianizing  the 
Social  Order  (New  York:   Macmillan,  1914). 

8.  The  element  of  democracy. — The  principle  of  democ- 
racy afhrms  the  sovereignty  and  competency  of  the  individual 
in  all  affairs  relating  to  his  own  well-being.  It  arose  first  of 
all  in  the  political  sphere,  but  it  was  found  to  be  equally 
applicable  in  the  religious  sphere.  No  phase  of  modern  life 
or  thought  has  escaped  its  influence,  but  it  has  been  especially 
influential  in  all  modern  religious  development — ^in  doctrine, 
life,  and  organization. 

It  has  been  largely  responsible  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
Calvinistic  theology,  with  its  absolutist  doctrine  of  the 
divine  sovereignty  and  election,  of  a  limited  atonement, 
and  its  fatalist  doctrine  of  hereditary  depravity.  It  has 
also  been  the  guiding  principle  in  the  modern  development 
of  independence  in  church  government. 

The  modern  conception  of  religious  authority  has  grown 
out  of  the  democratic  principle.  Rev.  George  Tyrrell  says: 
"The  two  deepest  characteristics  of  the  new  order  are  the 
scientific  spirit  and  the  democratic  movement — a  new  con- 
ception of  authority  and  government"  {Mediaevalism,  p.  120). 

An  analysis  of  the  element  of  democracy,  however,  would 
show  that  other  elements  enter  into  it,  such  as  the  elements 
of  humanity  and  liberty. 

Literature. — The  student  will  find  that  all  the  writers  to  whom 
reference  has  already  been  made  deal  with  the  principle  of  democracy 


438        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

in  relation  to  modern  religious  thought  and  life,  especially  Smith  and 
King. 

9.  The  element  of  catholicity. — The  modern  Christian 
mind  has  grown  more  tolerant  toward  the  religious  beliefs 
of  other  Christians  and  more  appreciative  of  the  religions 
of  non-Christian  people.  Christian  co-operation  and  union 
are  taking  the  place  of  sectarian  ostracism  and  controversy. 

The  resemblances  to  Christian  teaching  found  in  non- 
Christian  religions  are  no  longer  waved  aside  as  false  imita- 
tions of  Christianity  or  the  inventions  of  demons,  but  are 
considered  genuine  attainments  of  the  truth  under  different 
forms  by  the  most  inspired  spirits  among  the  heathen.  And 
their  virtues  are  no  longer  treated  as  "splendid  vices,"  but  as, 
in  their  degree,  approaches  to  genuine  Christian  morality. 

The  study  of  comparative  religion,  and  a  closer  contact 
with  the  East  through  foreign  missions  and  international 
commerce,  have  had  much  to  do  with  this  new  attitude; 
but  the  decisive  change  has  come  through  the  rationalizing 
influences  of  philosophy  and  science.  The  modern  mind 
has  discovered  new  principles  by  which  to  interpret  and 
unify  the  facts  of  the  universal  religious  consciousness,  the 
most  significant  of  which  are  the  principles  of  evolution  and 
of  the  relativity  of  knowledge. 

The  student  should  be  reminded  that  these  principles  or 
elements  are  at  the  same  time  elements  of  modern  Christianity 
and  of  modern  civiUzation,  and  that  Christianity  and  civiliza- 
tion have  been  inseparable  in  their  development.  It  is  not 
possible  then  to  say  that  they  are  the  exclusive  product  of 
either  one;  they  are  the  product  of  the  total  social  process 
which  we  call  civilization,  of  which  Christianity  has  been 
a  part,  and  on  which  it  has  exerted  its  influence.  Just  what 
the  influence  of  Christianity  has  been  it  is  difficult  to  say, 
but  it  is  safe  to  afiirm  that  it  has  been  very  decisive. 

Literature. — Efforts  have  been  made  to  estimate  the  influence  of 
Christianity  upon  social  progress,  the  most  notable   of  which   is   by 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      439 

Benjamin  Kidd  in  his  two  books,  Social  Evolution  (New  York:  Mac- 
millan,  1895),  and  The  Principles  of  Western  Civilization  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1902). 

10.  The  relation  of  modem  Christianity  to  Protestantism 
and  Catholicism. — Troeltsch  and  Harnack  have  pointed  out 
the  many  mediaeval  elements  which  survived  in  early  Protes- 
tantism, such  as  the  dogma  of  biblical  authority,  a  redemptive 
church,  sacramental  and  confessional  assurance,  the  union  of 
church  and  state,  and  an  ascetic  view  of  the  Christian  life. 
All  of  these  principles  stood  opposed  to  the  trend  of  the 
modern  world  toward  freedom,  spirituality,  and  democracy. 

In  both  principle  and  action,  however,  Protestantism  has 
shown  itself  more  congenial  to  modern  tendencies  than 
Catholicism.  The  Protestant  principle  of  justification  by  faith, 
in  its  earliest  expression  as  an  act  of  faith,  was  essentially  a 
modern  principle;  but  it  was  later  identified  with  the  doc- 
trinal content  of  faith  and  largely  eliminated  as  a  factor 
in  modern  progress.  Persecution  for  heresy  arose  in  the 
dominant  Protestant  churches  as  a  consequence,  and  just  as 
little  freedom  of  faith  and  of  thought  was  granted  in  Protestant 
countries  as   n  Catholic. 

Within  Protestantism  have  arisen  many  organic  move- 
ments embodying  fundamental  Protestant  principles  and 
one  or  more  modern  elements,  such  as  Socinianism,  Armini- 
anism,  Baptistism,  Congregationalism,  Quakerism,  Evan- 
gelicalism, Pietism,  Unitarianism,  and  Universalism,  and 
various  intellectual  movements,  such  as  Latitudinarianism, 
the  Higher  Criticism,  and  Ritschlianism,  all  of  which  have 
left  traces  of  their  influence  upon  the  dominant  trend  of 
Protestantism. 

Protestantism  has  undergone  a  gradual  transformation 
and  has  shown  a  disposition  to  adapt  herself  to  modern 
progress. 

The  student  will  find  that  it  has  been  quite  different 
with  Catholicism.     In  principle  the  latter  is  opposed  to  all 


440        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

change.  She  has  crushed  all  modern  tendencies  and  resisted 
all  modern  influences  within  her  organization.  In  the 
Syllabus  of  Errors  of  1864  Pope  Pius  IX  condemned  as  an 
error  the  following  proposition:  "The  Roman  Pontiff  can 
and  ought  to  reconcile  himself  to  and  agree  with  progress, 
liberalism,  and  civilization  as  lately  introduced."  All  or- 
ganizations and  all  schools  of  thought  with  modern  tend- 
encies which  have  arisen  in  Catholicism  have  been  suppressed. 
Such  movements  as  Jansenism,  Quietism,  and  Febronianism 
disappeared  before  the  nineteenth  century  and  left  no 
influence.  Doellingerism  was  overwhelmed  within  the  church 
by  the  Vatican  Council  of  1870,  and  Modernism  was  forced 
into  silence  or  submission  by  Pius  X.  Ultramontanism  and 
Mediaevalism  are  in  complete  ascendency,  as  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  Modern  Christianity  is  therefore  neither  Protestant 
nor  Catholic.  Its  development  has  taken  place  more  rapidly 
and  completely  within  Protestant  countries  and  shows 
greater  affinities  for  Protestantism  than  for  Catholicism; 
yet  it  is  not  possible  to  say  that  it  has  been  the  sole  product  of 
the  Protestant  movement.  Troeltsch  goes  so  far  as  to  say, 
however,  that,  "on  the  grounds  of  pure  fact,  we  are  warranted 
in  saying  that  the  religion  of  the  modern  world  is  essentially 
determined  by  Protestantism,  and  that  this  constitutes  the 
greatest  historical  significance  of  Protestantism"  {Protestant- 
ism and  Progress,  p.  185).  Other  forces  of  a  non-religious 
secular  nature  have  also  contributed  largely  to  the  total 
result. 

Literature. — The  student  will  find  the  above-mentioned  relations 
specifically  dealt  with  by  Troeltsch  in  Protestantism  atid  Progress  (New 
York:  Putnam,  19 12),  and  in  his  section  of  Die  Kultur  der  Gegen- 
wart,  Teil  I,  Abt.  IV,  on  "  Protestantisches  Christentum  und  Kirche 
in  der  Neuzeit"  (Berlin:  Teubner,  1906);  by  Harnack  in  his  History 
of  Dogma,  English  translation.  Vol.  VII  (Boston:  Little,  Brown  &  Co., 
1900);  and  by  Karl  Sell  in  Katholizismus  und  Protestantismus 
in  Geschichte,  Religion,  Politik,  Kultur  (Leipzig:  Quelle  und  Meyer, 
1908). 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      441 
I.      THE   POLITICO-ECCLESIASTICAL   MOVEMENT 

The  importance  of  the  modern  politico-ecclesiastical 
movement  for  the  development  of  modern  Christianity  lies 
in  the  relation  of  this  movement  to  modern  liberty.  The 
attention  of  the  student  has  already  been  called  to  liberty 
as  a  constituent  element  of  modern  Christianity.  One  aspect 
of  this  liberty — liberty  of  conscience — was  largely  an  out- 
growth of  the  politico-ecclesiastical  movement. 

Liberty  of  conscience  in  religion. — By  liberty  of  conscience 
in  this  treatment  is  meant  the  freedom  of  the  individual  from 
the  control  of  the  state  in  his  religious  belief  and  worship. 
The  study  really  involves  the  entire  history  of  the  relation 
between  church  and  state,  from  the  beginnings  of  that 
relation  under  Constantine  (312-36).  To  understand  just 
what  the  nature  of  the  struggle  for  religious  liberty  has  been, 
the  student  should  study  first  of  all  the  origin  and  nature  of 
the  mediaeval  tyranny  out  of  which  modern  liberty  arose. 

The  student  will  find  that  mediaeval  tyranny  was  an 
inheritance  from  previous  political  and  religious  conditions 
as  they  existed  in  ancient  states,  especially  in  Greece,  Rome, 
and  among  the  Hebrews.  For  this  study  the  most  significant 
element  of  that  inheritance  is  the  control  of  religion  by  the 
government — a  union  of  church  and  state — and  the  concep- 
tions of  the  state  and  of  religion  upon  which  it  was  based. 

The  ancient  conception  of  religion  as  an  aflfair  of  the  state. 
— In  all  ancient  states  religion  was  an  affair  of  the  state.  The 
worship  of  the  gods  was  a  public  function  and  not  a  private 
right.  Religion  was  social,  not  personal,  and  consisted  of 
public  ceremonies  rather  than  personal  convictions.  The 
individual  had  no  personal  religious  interests  apart  from  those 
of  the  community,  unless  he  happened  to  be  a  foreigner  and 
worshiped  a  foreign  god. 

Christianity  a  religion  of  individual  conviction. — With  the 
rise  of  Christianity  religion  became  an  affair  of  the  individ- 
ual.    Jesus  appealed  to  the  conscience  and  grounded  religion 


442         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

in  personal  belief.  When  he  said,  "Render  unto  Caesar 
the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that 
are  God's/'  he  established  an  authority  over  the  individual 
distinct  from  the  authority  of  the  state. 

Reasons  for  the  persecution  of  Christians. — All  the  con- 
ditions of  religious  tyranny  and  persecution  were  at  hand 
with  the  birth  of  Christianity  into  Jewish  society  and  the 
Roman  state.  The  early  Christians,  with  their  conception 
of  the  inwardness  and  privacy  of  religion,  were  bound  to 
come  into  conflict  with  the  temporal  powers  of  the  ancient 
world,  with  their  conception  of  the  absolute  sovereignty  of 
the  state.  The  personal  Christian  conscience  from  the  first 
set  itself  against  the  royal  and  the  social  will  and  declared, 
"We  must  obey  God  rather  than  men."  With  this  difference 
between  the  ancient  pagan  conception  of  the  state  and  of  the 
place  and  function  of  religion  in  the  state,  and  with  the  new 
Christian  conception  of  the  distinction  between  things  spiritual 
and  things  temporal,  religious  tyranny  began;  and  it  did  not 
cease  until  modern  states  transferred  religion  from  the  status 
of  a  public  function  to  the  status  of  a  private  right, 
under  the  legal  form  of  a  voluntary  association  or  private 
corporation. 

The  development  of  the  idea  of  religious  liberty. — ^The 
growth  of  religious  liberty  was  a  many-sided  movement.  It 
was  involved  in  the  whole  development  of  civilization.  It 
came  as  a  result  of  many  influences — religious,  political, 
military,  philosophical,  economic,  and  commercial.  A  com- 
plete understanding  of  it  would  involve  a  knowledge  of  all  that 
has  made  for  progress  in  the  modern  world,  for  liberty  is  one 
of  the  products  of  civilization. 

But  the  history  of  religious  liberty  is  something  more 
definite  than  the  summary  of  the  influences  which  have  brought 
it  about;  it  finally  came  through  certain  specific  parlia- 
mentary acts  which  changed  the  constitutions  of  states.  It 
came  both  gradually  and  suddenly — gradually  as  a  result  of 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY       443 

the  progress  of  such  great  principles  of  liberty  as  democracy, 
humanity,  and  rationality,  and  suddenly  as  a  result  of  the 
victories  of  political  parties  and  of  armies.  But  for  clearness 
of  distinction  the  movement  may  be  studied  as  a  twofold 
process:  first,  as  a  movement  of  public  opinion  in  favor  of 
liberty  created  by  all  of  its  advocates,  and,  secondly,  as  a 
movement  in  political  action  expressed  in  the  various  acts 
of  toleration.  Both  aspects  are  essential  to  a  complete  under- 
standing of  it. 

The  influence  of  the  Protestant  Reformation. — The 
starting-point  in  this  study  is  the  Protestant  Reformation  and 
its  relation  to  the  progress  of  liberty.  The  student  will  find 
that  the  first  generation  of  great  reformers  and  Protestant 
parties  did  not  believe  in  freedom  of  conscience  nor  in  a 
separation  of  church  and  state,  and  that  the  first  direct  influ- 
ence of  the  Reformation  was  a  strengthening  of  the  principle 
of  religious  tyranny — ^of  the  authority  of  the  civil  ruler  over 
the  religion  of  his  subjects.  It  remained  for  the  outlawed 
Protestant  parties  of  the  first  generation — the  Anabaptists 
and  the  Socinians — and  for  the  new  reformatory  parties  of 
the  second  and  subsequent  generations — the  Independents, 
the  Baptists,  the  Arminians,  and  the  Quakers — to  become  the 
heralds  and  bearers  of  religious  liberty. 

The  movement  of  religious  dissent.— The  direct  move- 
ment for  religious  liberty  in  modern  times  began  with  the 
rise  of  religious  dissent  (chiefly  Protestant  but  partly  CathoHc), 
and  was  consummated  through  the  struggle  of  these  dissenting 
nonconformist  parties  for  freedom  of  worship  against  the 
efforts  of  civil  rulers  to  enforce  uniformity  of  religion  in  their 
realms.  The  interesting  fact  is  that  the  leading  part  in  this 
struggle  was  taken,  and  the  greatest  sacrifices  for  liberty  were 
made,  by  a  religious  party  which  did  not  at  first  believe  in 
individual  freedom  of  conscience — the  Presbyterians.  They 
struggled  for  liberty  for  themselves,  but  they  won  it  finally  for 
all  other  dissenters. 


444        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  student  will  find  the  history  of  the  Netherlands, 
England,  Scotland,  France,  Germany,  and  America  during 
the  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  centuries  of 
chief  significance  in  the  development  of  modern  liberty. 
Religious  questions  were  inseparably  interwoven  with  political 
ones  during  this  period.  In  each  of  these  countries  the 
government  was  the  sovereign  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  political 
power,  and  as  a  means  of  securing  religious  liberty  the  dis- 
senting religious  parties  were  obliged  to  identify  themselves 
with  political  movements.  They  adopted  political  measures 
and  such  political  principles  as  favored  their  religious  free- 
dom. They  became  at  the  same  time  both  religious  and 
pohtical  revolutionists  and  brought  in  by  the  same  struggle 
both  religious  and  political  liberty. 

The  guaranty  of  religious  liberty  by  the  state. — While 
many  influences  co-operated  to  promote  religious  liberty, 
the  student  must  not  forget  that  it  was  finally  achieved  in  the 
sphere  of  political  theory  and  action.  It  was  the  state 
which  withheld  it  and  the  state  which  finally  granted  it.  A 
study  of  the  history  of  political  theories,  both  mediaeval  and 
modern,  becomes,  therefore,  for  the  student  of  religious  liberty 
one  of  his  most  essential  tasks.  The  idea  of  liberty  was  first 
of  all  formulated  in  political  theory  before  it  was  carried  out 
in  political  action.  In  each  case  it  came  as  a  result  of  a 
changed  conception  of  governmental  powers  and  of  the 
relation  between  government  and  religion. 

Development  of  religious  liberty  in  Protestantism. — 
The  student  will  discover  that  Protestantism  has  been  a  more 
congenial  soil  for  the  growth  of  liberty  than  Catholicism. 
This  phenomenon  may  be  due  in  part  to  racial  characteristics; 
but  it  is  due  in  far  greater  measure  to  the  religious  differences 
between  Protestantism  and  Catholicism.  Through  its  dis- 
tinctive religious  principles — justification  by  faith  and  the 
universal  priesthood  of  believers — Protestantism  became  a 
decisive  influence  in  the  struggle  for  modern  Hberty,  both 
religious  and  political. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      445 

For  this  reason  such  Protestant  countries  as  the  Nether- 
lands, England,  Scotland,  and  America  have  contributed  far 
more  to  the  progress  of  religious  liberty  than  such  Catholic 
countries  as  France,  Spain,  Austria,  and  Italy. 

Literature. — On  the  history  of  religious  liberty  in  general  consult 

F.  Ruffini,  Religious  Liberty  (New  York:  Putnam,  1912),  which  deals 
chiefly  with  the  great  historic  treatises  advocating  religious  liberty; 

G.  L.  Scherger,  The  Evolution  of  Modern  Liberty  (New  York:  Longmans, 
Green,  &  Co.,  1904),  which  deals  with  the  relation  of  the  principle  of 
"natural  law"  to  liberty.  See  also  J.  MacKinnon,  A  History  oj Modern 
Liberty  (London:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1906);  Lord  Acton,  The 
History  of  Freedom- (London:  Macmillan,  1907);  V.  Sch.a.il,  The  Progress 
of  Religious  Freedom  as , Shown  in  the  History  of  Toleration  Acts  (New 
York:  Scribner,  1889);  D.  G.  Ritchie,  A''a/wm/i?ig^/5  (New  York:  Mac- 
millan, 1895);  the  New  Schajff-Herzog  Encyclopedia  of  Religious  Knowl- 
edge, article  "Liberty." 

For  the  theory  of  the  mediaeval  church-state  consult  James  Bryce, 
The  Holy  Roman  Empire  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1890) ;  W.  A.  Dunning, 
History  of  Political  Theories,  Ancient  and  Mediaeval  (New  York:  Mac- 
millan, 1902);  A.  J.  Carlyle,  A  History  of  Mediaeval  Political  Theories 
in  the  West,  3  vols.  (London:  Blackwood,  1903-9).  Especially  impor- 
tant is  O.  Gierke,  Das  deutsche  Genossenschaftrecht,  Bd.  Ill  (Berlin: 
Weidmann,  1868-81),  a  portion  of  which  has  been  translated  by  Mait- 
land,  under  the  title  Political  Theories  of  the  Middle  Ages  (Cambridge: 
University  Press,  1900).  See  also  by  the  same  author,  Johannes  Althu- 
sius,  und  die  Entwickelung  der  naturrechtlichen  Staatstheorien  (Breslau: 
Marcus,  1902). 

For  the  political  theories  of  the  reformers  consult  W.  A.  Dunning, 
History  of  Political  Theories  from  Luther  to  Montesquieu  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1905);  J.  N.  Figgis,  From  Gerson  to  Grotius  (Cambridge: 
University  Press,  1907);  G.  Jager,  "Politische  Ideen  Luthei;s  und  ihr 
Einfluss  auf  die  innere  Entwickelung  Deutschlands,  Preussisches  Jahr- 
buch,  1903. 

For  the  general  relation  of  church  and  state  read  H.  Geffcken, 
Staat  und  Kirche  in  ihrem  Verhdltniss  geschichtlich  entwickelt  (Berlin: 
Hertz,  1875;  English  translation  by  Tyler,  Church  and  State,  Their 
Relations  Historically  Considered,  2  vols.  [London:  Longmans,  Green,  & 
Co.,  1877]).  See  Nrou  Schajff-Herzog  Encyclopedia,  articles  "Church  and 
State"  (with  bibliography),  "Territorialism,"  " Collegialism " ;  K. 
Volker,  Toleranz  und  Intoleranz  im  Zeitalter  der  Reformation  (Leipzig: 
Hinrichs,  191 2). 


y 


446        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

For  the  rise  and  theory  of  absolute  monarchy  see  H.  Sidgwick,  The 
Development  of  European  Polity  (London:  Macmillan,  1903);  J.  N. 
Figgis,  The  Theory  of  the  Divine  Right  of  Kings  (Cambridge:  University 
Press,  1896). 

On  the  struggle  for  political  and  religious  liberty  in  the  Netherlands 
the  student  will  find  a  good  brief  account  in  A.  H.  Johnson,  Europe  in 
the  Sixteenth  Century,  chap,  viii  (London:  Rivington,  1898).  This  should 
be  supplemented  by  a  study  of  P.  J.  Blok,  History  of  the  People  of  the 
Netherlands,  Vols.  Ill  and  IV,  (New  York:  Putnam,  1898-1912);  Ruth 
Putman,  William  the  Silent  (New  York:   Putnam,  1895). 

For  the  Puritan  struggle  for  religious  liberty  in  England  consult 
D.  Campbell,  The  Puritan  in  England,  Holland,  and  America  (New 
York:  Harper,  1892);  G.  P.  Gooch,  English  Democratic  Ideas  in  the 
Seventeenth  Century  (Cambridge:  University  Press,  1898);  W.  St.  John, 
Contest  for  Liberty  of  Conscience  in  England  (Chicago:  The  University  of 
Chicago  Press,  1900);  H.  F.  Russell-Smith,  The  Theory  of  Religious 
Liberty  in  the  Reign  of  Charles  II  and  James  II  (Cambridge,  191 1); 
A.  A.  Seaton,  The  Theory  of  Toleration  under  the  Later  Stuarts  (Cambridge, 
1911). 

On  Puritanism  in  New  England  and  the  struggle  for  rehgious  liberty 
consult  S.  H.  Cobb,  The  Rise  of  Religious  Liberty  in  America  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1902) ;  P.  E.  Lauer,  Church  and  State  in  New  England  (Balti- 
more: Johns  Hopkins  University,  1892);  M.  L.  Greene,  The  Development 
of  Religious  Liberty  in  Connecticut  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1905). 

On  the  struggle  for  toleration  in  France  the  student  should  consult 
the  New  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia,  articles  on  the  Huguenots,  with 
cross-references  and  bibliography;  Armstrong,  "The  Political  Theories 
of  the  Huguenots,"  English  History  Review,  IV,  13;  Bonet-Maury, 
Histoire  de  la  liberie  de  conscience  en  France  (Paris:  Alcan,  1900); 
W.  M.  Sloane,  The  French  Revolution  and  Religious  Reform  (New  York; 
Scribner,  1901). 

II.      THE    SCIENTIFIC   MOVEMENT 

Modern  science  has  been  one  of  the  most  decisive  factors  in 
the  formation  of  modern  rehgious  thought.  Very  few  rehgious 
ideas  have  escaped  its  modifying  influence.  The  result  of 
this  influence  within  the  sphere  of  Christian  behef  is  registered 
in  what  is  here  called  modern  Christianity. 

Scientific  method  welcomed  by  modem  Christianity.^ 
Modern  Christianity  thus  receives  one  of  its  chief  marks  of 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      447 

distinction  from  its  connection  with  modern  science.  It 
recognizes  the  fundamental  necessity  of  a  true  science  to 
reUgion,  approves  and  imitates  its  spirit  and  methods,  and 
accepts  all  of  its  verified  discoveries  and  conclusions.  It  does 
not  fear  science,  as  the  older  Christianity  did,  nor  seek  to 
control  it,  but  cordially  welcomes  it  as  a  friend  and  ally. 

The  development  of  modern  science. — The  task  before 
the  student  in  this  study  is  to  find  out,  not  merely  the  nature 
of  the  influence  of  science  upon  religion,  but  to  trace  the 
origin  and  historical  development  of  that  influence.  The 
student  should  not  forget  that  his  task  is  primarily  historical 
and  that  the  logical  place  to  begin  is  with  the  beginnings  of 
modern  science. 

The  conflict  between  religion  and  science. — The  relation 
between  science  and  religion  in  modern  times  assumed  the 
form  of  a  conflict.  This  appeared  first  of  all  as  a  conflict 
between  the  statements  of  Scripture  concerning  the  origin 
and  formation  of  the  physical  universe  and  the  statements  of 
scientists.  It  arose  out  of  the  adoption  by  the  Christian 
church  of  the  Old  Testament,  with  its  primitive  Semitic 
cosmogonies,  as  authoritative  divine  revelation.  Throughout 
the  entire  conflict  the  first  task  of  the  theologians  was  to  defend 
the  scientific  authority  and  infaflibility  of  Scripture.  The 
fundamental  difference  between  science  and  religion  was  a 
difference  in  method  of  verification.  Science  sought  to  prove 
things  true  by  observation  and  experiment;  religion,  by 
an  appeal  to  authority— the  authority  of  Scripture. 

Still  further  conflict  arose  owing  to  the  two  different 
theories  of  causation  held  by  science  and  religion — the 
natural  and  the  supernatural.  Science  sought  a  natural 
cause  for  things;  religion  rested  upon  the  principle  of  an 
ultimate  supernatural  causation  embodied  in  the  scriptural 
explanation  of  things.  Each  of  the  sciences  as  they  arose — 
astronomy,  geology,  biology,  archaeology,  anthropology, 
and  medicine — offered  a  natural  explanation  in  place  of  the 


448         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

supernatural  explanation  of  Scripture  and  gave  rise  to  a  new 
conflict  which  passed  through  an  identical  course  of  develop- 
ment in  each  instance.  The  first  stage  of  each  conflict  was 
marked  by  the  bitter,  irreconcilable  hostility  of  religious 
leaders  toward  the  discoveries  and  hypotheses  of  the  new 
science. 

Attempts  at  harmonization. — But  the  irresistible  demon- 
strations of  the  scientists  forced  the  theologians  into  an  atti- 
tude of  compromise.  Harmonistic  schemes  were  drawn  up 
and  Scripture  was  given  an  interpretation  in  agreement  with 
the  new  science.  But  as  the  new  science  changed  new 
harmonistic  schemes  and  new  interpretations  of  Scripture 
were  formulated;  and  each  new  scheme,  so  different  from  the 
previous  one,  was  in  turn  accepted  as  authoritative  and 
divine. 

The  present  relationship  between  science  and  religion. — 
This  contradictory  and  futile  process  was  finally  its  own  un- 
doing and  prepared  the  way  for  the  present  relation  between 
science  and  religion  in  modern  Christianity. 

Many  discoveries  were  made  by  both  scientists  and 
religionists  during  the  course  of  this  conflict.  Religionists 
discovered  that  Scripture  was  not  what  the  older  Christianity 
supposed  it  to  be.  It  had  been  defended  as  an  inspired 
scientific  revelation.  In  the  light  of  the  new  historical  criti- 
cism, of  archaeological  discoveries,  and  of  studies  in  com- 
parative religion,  it  was  discovered  that  the  sacred  books  of 
the  Hebrews  had  grown  up  as  the  sacred  books  of  all  other 
religious  peoples  had,  and  were  a  record  and  a  reflection  of 
their  civilization  and  religious  evolution.  In  other  words, 
the  Bible  itself  was  discovered  to  be  a  natural  instead  of  a 
supernatural  book,  and  to  reflect  the  scientific  knowledge 
of  ancient  peoples  rather  than  to  anticipate  that  of  the 
modern  world.  Hence  was  born  a  new  conception  of  Scrip- 
ture as  the  first  step  in  a  final  reconciliation  of  science  and 
religion. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      449 

But,  partly  through  this  conflict  and  partly  through  social 
development  and  philosophical  inquiries,  religionists  dis- 
covered that  religion  was  not  what  the  older  Christianity 
supposed  it  to  be.  It  had  been  held  to  be  identical  in  part 
with  Qorrect  historical,  scientific,  and  dogmatic  beliefs  based 
on  Scripture.  It  was  discovered  to  be  spiritual  life  and  began 
to  be  defined  ethically  in  terms  of  personal  purity  and  broth- 
erly love  and  service.  Hence  arose  a  clear  distinction  between 
science  and  religion  and  a  separation  of  their  spheres  and 
functions. 

As  a  result  of  this  modern  separation  of  science  and  reli- 
gion, questions  which  were  once  regarded  as  religious,  because 
dealt  with  in  Scripture,  were  transferred  to  science.  Such 
questions  as  the  origin  and  age  of  the  earth  and  of  the  solar 
system;  the  origin  and  age  of  man  and  the  lower  forms  of 
life;  the  origin  and  distribution  of  races  of  men,  of  languages, 
and  of  species  of  animals  are  now  dealt  with  as  purely  sci- 
entific questions.  The  answers  to  them  in  nowise  belong  to 
or  affect  religion. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  scientists  have  made  some  dis- 
coveries which  have  contributed  to  a  final  reconciliation  of 
science  and  religion.  Many  of  the  older  scientists  were 
as  hostile  toward  religion  as  the  older  religionists  were  toward 
science.  They  settled  accounts  finally  with  religion  by 
pronouncing  it  a  superstition — the  invention  of  designing 
priests;  and  they  proclaimed  science  to  be  the  sum  of  all 
human  knowledge  and  the  ground  of  all  human  well-being. 
The  newer  scientists  admit  the  limitations  of  science  and 
agree  to  her  restriction  to  her  own  peculiar  sphere.  Many 
questions  once  regarded  as  scientific  are  now  turned  over  to 
ethics,  religion,  or  philosophy. 

As  Professor  L.  T.  More  says: 

If  I  have  made  myself  clear,  the  limitations  of  science  are  due 
solely  to  the  fact  that  there  are,  in  addition  to  material  forces,  others  of 
an  essentially  different  kind  which  may  be  called,  for  lack  of  a  better  name, 


450        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

spiritual  powers.  And  so  long  as  men  of  science  restrict  their  endeavor 
to  the  world  of  material  substance  and  force,  they  will  find  that  their 
field  is  practically  without  limits,  so  vast  and  so  numerous  are  the  prob- 
lems to  be  solved.  And  it  should  distress  no  one  to  discover  that  there  are 
other  fields  of  knowledge  in  which  science  is  not  concerned  {Limitations  of 
Science,  p.  260J. 

The  criticism  of  science  on  the  basis  of  the  modern  theory 
of  knowledge — the  principle  of  relativity — -as  well  as  the 
history  of  its  mistakes  has  done  much  to  moderate  its  dog- 
matic certainty.  Relative  to  this  More  says:  ''Evidently 
the  postulates  of  science  are  as  complex,  as  subjective, 
and  debatable  as  the  postulates  of  religion  and  philosophy" 
{op.  cit.,  pp.  219-20). 

The  emancipation  of  both  science  and  religion. — Thus 
the  conflict  between  science  and  religion,  which  had  grown 
out  of  this  attempt  to  discredit  modern  science  by  an  appeal 
to  the  supposedly  inspired  science  of  Scripture,  drew  to  a  close 
at  the  opening  of  the  twentieth  century.  It  was  settled, 
not  by  the  overthrow  of  either,  but  by  the  emancipation  of 
both  from  unnatural  alliances  and  unwarranted  pretensions. 
Science  achieved  its  freedom  and  the  recognition  of  its 
value  to  religion  in  all  enlightened  religious  circles.  The 
way  was  prepared  for  the  rational  and  scientific  treatment  of 
all  questions  between  science  and  religion.  This  has  become 
the  distinguishing  mark  of  modern  Christianity. 

Some  unsolved  problems.^This  does  not  mean  that  all 
problems  raised  by  science  in  the  sphere  of  religious  thought 
have  been  settled.  On  the  other  hand,  there  were  many 
other  problems -besides  that  of  biblical  authority  and  infalli- 
bility which  appeared  all  along  the  way.  There  was  the 
problem  of  the  nature  of  God  and  of  his  relation  to  the 
physical  universe,  growing  out  of  the  discovery  of  "the  reign 
of  law"  in  nature;  there  was  the  problem  of  prayer  and 
miracles  in  the  hght  of  natural  law;  the  problem  of  sin  and  its 
origin  and  retribution  in  the  light  of  evolution ;  there  was  the 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      451 

problem  of  immortality  and  science — all  of  which  were  ear- 
nestly debated  and  still  call  for  solution. 

Some  of  these  problems  lie  on  the  bord^^rland  between 
science  and  religion,  where  science  passes  into  philosophy 
and  religion  into  theology.  In  that  realm  the  controversy 
will  probably  go  on  indefinitely,  but  in  a  spirit  of  earnest 
search  for  truth  and  of  mutual  respect  in  the  relation  of 
scientists  and  theologians. 

Literature. — There  are  several  classes  of  books  in  which  the  student 
wUl  find  his  material.  He  should  turn  first  of  all  to  such  general  his- 
tories of  the  sciences  as  those  of  Whewell  and  Williams  and  to  the  various 
histories  of  particular  sciences.  But  there  is  very  little  material  in 
either  of  these  on  the  contact  between  science  and  religion.  A  second 
class  of  works  are  the  biographies  of  the  great  scientists,  which  contain 
information  on  the  treatment  accorded  the  leaders  of  science  by  ecclesi- 
astical authorities.  But  more  germane  to  this  particular  study  are  such 
histories  of  the  conflict  between  science  and  religion  as  those  by  White 
and  Zockler  and  the  many  works  embodying  attempts  to  reconcile 
science  and  religion.  Very  valuable  also  are  the  discussions  of  the 
general  relations  of  science  and  religion  by  Boutroux  and  Romanes. 

On  the  primitive  union  between  science  and  religion  see  O.  Pflei- 
derer,  Philosophy  and  Development  of  Religion,  Vol.  I,  Lecture  III  (New '--'' 
York:    Putnam,  1894);    Hastings,  Encyclopedia  of  Religioii  and  Ethics, 
article  "Cosmogony  and  Cosmogonies." 

On  the  history  of  the  sciences  see  W.  WheweU,  History  of  the  Induc- 
tive Sciences,  2  vols.  (New  York:  Appleton,  1901)  (old  but  useful); 
H.  S.  Williams,  A  History  of  Science,  5  vols.  (New  York:  Harper,  1904) 
(popular);  Geikie,  The  Foufiders  of  Geology  (London:  Macmillan,  1897); 
LyeU,  Principles  of  Geology,  12th  ed.  (London:  Murray,  1876);  W.  W. 
Bryant,  A  History  of  Astronomy  (New  York:  E.  P.  Button  &  Co.,  1907); 
Osborn,  From  the  Greeks  to  Darwin  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1899); 
J.  H.  Baas,  Leitfadcn  der  Geschichte  der  Medicin  (Stuttgart:  Enke,  1880; 
English  translation  by  Handerson,  Outlines  of  the  History  of  Medicine 
[New  York:  Vail,  1889]). 

On  the  history  of  the  conflict  between  science  and  religion  the  best  ^ 
in  English  is  the  work  by  A.  D.  White,  A  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science 
with  Theology,  2  vols.  (New  York:  Appleton,  1896);  this  is  critical  but 
appreciative  of  both  science  and  religion;  its  bibliographies  are  of 
immense  value.  J.  W.  Draper,  History  of  the  Conflict  between  Science  and 
Religion  (New  York:  Appleton,  1893),  is  a  pioneering  work  in  English, 


452        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

hostile  to  religion.  See  also  O.  Zockler,  Geschichte  der  Beziehungen 
zwischen  Theologie  um  Naturwissenschaft,  2  vols.  (Giitersloh:  Bertels- 
mann, 1877);  W.  N.  Rice,  Christian  Faith  in  an  Age  of  Science  (New 
York:  Armstrong,  1903). 

On  the  relation  between  science  and  religion  see  A.  J.  Balfour,  The 
Foundations  of  Belief  (London:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1895);  G.  J. 
Romanes,  Thoughts  on  Religion  (Chicago:  Open  Court  Pub.  Co.,  1895); 
L.  T.  More,  Limitations  of  Science  (New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1915) ; 
Boutroux,  Science  et  religion  dans  la  philosophic  contemporaine  (Paris: 
Flammarion,  1908;  English  translation,  Science  and  Religion  in  Con- 
temporary Philosophy  [London:  Duckworth,  1909]);  G.  Galloway,  The 
Philosophy  of  Religion,  pp.  189-95  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1914);  R.  B. 
Perry,  Present  Philosophical  Tendencies,  pp.  3-109  (New  York:  Long- 
mans, Green,  &  Co.,  1912). 

III.      THE   PHILOSOPHICAL   MOVEMENT 

Modern  Christianity  owes  some  of  its  most  characteristic 
principles  to  the  reflection  of  modern  philosophers,  while  all  of 
its  principles  have  been  elucidated  and  strengthened  by  them. 
The  relation  between  theology  and  philosophy  has  always 
been  very  intimate  and  their  influence  upon  each  other  very 
marked,  but  never  more  so  than  in  modern  times. 

The  problems  of  modem  philosophy. — Modern  philosophy 
has  been  concerned  with  two  major  inquiries:  What  is  the 
nature  of  ultimate  reality  ?  and  What  are  the  origin,  nature, 
and  limits  of  human  knowledge  ?  Both  of  these  inquiries 
have  direct  religious  bearings. 

The  problem  of  knowledge. — Philosophers  had  not  gone 
far  in  their  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  ultimate  reality  before 
they  discovered  that  all  their  inquiry  depended  upon  the  solu- 
tion of  a  previous  question  as  to  the  nature  and  validity  of 
their  knowledge.  Hence  modern  philosophy  was  resolved 
into  an  inquiry  into  the  origin  and  nature  of  human  knowledge. 
From  a  study  of  the  objective  world  modern  philosophy 
turned  to  a  study  of  the  subjective  or  inner  world.  In  this 
realm  are  to  be  found  its  great  discoveries.  And  here,  also,  lie 
its  decisive  contributions  to  modern  religious  thought. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY     453 

In  order  to  understand  the  origin  <a,nd  nature  of  the  influ- 
ence of  modern  philosophy  upon  theology,  the  student  should 
take  up  the  history  of  philqsophy,  which  falk  into  two  general 
stages  of  development  separated  by  the  work  of  Immanuel 
Kant  (1724-1804).  The  first  stage  may  be  designated  as  the 
period  of  rationalism  and  the  second  as  the  period  of  idealism. 

The  rationalistic  movement. — The  modern  rationalistic 
movement  began  with  the  Humanists.  They  made  use  of 
reason  in  free  philosophical  and  theological  speculations  and  in 
literary  criticism.  Their  influence  was  felt  in  Socinianism 
and  Arminianism,  in  Anglicanism  and  Latitudinarianism, 
but  more  notably  in  Deism,  which  found  in  reason  the  ulti- 
mate source  of  religious  truth,  the  sole  and  sufficient  guide  in 
religious  faith  and  moral  conduct.  Rationalism  was  more 
or  less  in  vogue  as  a  principle  or  tendency  in  religious  and 
other  forms  of  thought  for  more  than  a  century  before  it  was 
formulated  into  a  system  of  philosophy  by  Rene  Descartes 
(1596-1650).  As  a  philosophy,  rationalism  affirmed  that 
"reason  is  a  source  of  knowledge  in  itself,  superior  to  and 
independent  of  sense-perceptions." 

The  atmosphere  of  every  realm  of  thought  during  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  was  charged  with  the 
rationahstic  conception  of  "innate  ideas."  In  the  political 
sphere  it  took  the  form  of  the  theory  of  "natural  law"  or 
"natural  right"  and  led  straight  to  the  concept  of  popular 
sovereignty  or  democracy.  In  the  sphere  of  morality  it  took 
the  form  of  the  idea  of  "natural  moraHty"  or  the  "light  of 
nature."  In  the  religious  sphere  it  was  spoken  of  as  the 
principle  of  "natural  religion"  or  of  the  "religion  of  reason." 
The  fundamental  assumption  of  rationahsm  was  that  man 
by  his  own  individual  powers  of  thought,  unaided  from 
without,  either  by  divine  revelation  or  human  experience, 
could  arrive  at  every  essential  truth  of  religion  and  every 
principle  of  moral  or  political  action.  Man  was  sovereign 
and  reason  was  supreme. 


454        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  O^  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Influence  of  ratioaalism  on  religious  thinking. — The 
problem  which  ratioiialism  raised  in  religion  was  mainly  that 
of  authority,  anc?  the  contribution,  which  it  made  to  religious 
thought  was  the  conception  of  an  inner,  personal,  trust- 
worthy authority  in  religious  faith  and  conduct — the  reason. 
The  issue  was  drawn  between  reason  and  revelation — rational- 
ism and  supernaturalism.  The  entire  question  was  fought 
out,  as  far  as  rationalism  could  carry  it,  in  the  deistical  con- 
troversy in  England.  The  conflict  issued  in  a  complete 
victory  for  rationalism,  as  far  as  the  recognition  of  the 
authority  of  reason  was  concerned.  No  one  dared  to  oppose 
the  dictates  of  reason.  Rationalists  and  Supernaturalists, 
believers  and  unbelievers  alike,  appealed  to  the  authority  and 
arbitrament  of  reason.  The  outcome  on  the  side  of  religion 
was  the  creation  of  a  ''rational  orthodoxy,"  so  called, 
which  attempted  to  prove  all  the  elements  of  traditional 
Christianity,  derived  from  supernatural  revelation,  to  be  in 
harmony  with  reason.  The  teaching  of  this  school  has  con- 
stituted the  theology  of  orthodox  Protestantism  from  the 
seventeenth  century  to  the  present  time. 

The  philosophical  criticism  of  rationalism. — Rationalism, 
however,  did  not  prove  a  final  resting-place  for  philosophic 
thought,  and  consequently  the  orthodox  theology  based  upon  it 
soon  found  itself  without  a  valid  foundation.  Its  limitations 
were  pointed  out  by  John  Locke  (1632-1704)  and  David 
Hume  (171 1-76),  while  Immanuel  Kant  (1724-1804)  fused 
elements  of  both  rationalism  and  sensationalism  with  new 
elements  of  his  own  into  a  new  theory  of  knowledge  which 
took  the  place  of  rationalism.  While  the  latter  proved 
inadequate  as  a  theory  of  knowledge,  yet  it  made  a  perma- 
nent contribution  both  to  philosophical  and  to  religious 
thought  by  calling  attention  to  the  originative  power  of  the 
mind  and  the  subjective  element  in  knowledge. 

Kant. — No  student  of  philosophy  in  its  relation  to  modern 
religious  thought  can  omit  a  thorough  study  of  Kant,  both  in 


■     THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY     455 

his  own  writings  and  in  such  general  expositions  of  his  rehgious 
philosophy  as  appear  in  works  by  McGiffert,  Pfleiderer, 
Moore,  and  others  mentioned  in  the  references  to  literature 
given  at  the  end  of  this  section.  Kant  was  first  of  all  a 
philosopher,  but  he  became  one  of  the  principal  fountains 
from  which  the  main  stream  of  modern  theology  has  flowed. 

The  student  is  chiefly  concerned  with  Kant's  solution  of 
the  problem  of  knowledge.  It  was  this  problem  which  Kant 
inherited  from  the  older  rationalism,  and  which  he  answered 
approximately  as  all  philosophers  since  his  day  have  answered 
it.  It  was  the  problem  not  only  of  the  nature  and  origin 
of  knowledge  but  of  the  nature  and  origin  of  religious  knowl- 
edge in  particular,  and  of  the  relation  between  religious  and 
all  other  kinds  of  knowledge. 

After  Kant  there  were  two  men  who  stood  out  from  all 
others  as  epoch-making  contributors  to  modern  religious 
thought — Schleiermacher  and  Ritschl.  There  were  many 
other  first-rank  thinkers  who  made  greater  -or  lesser  con- 
tributions, but  these  men  united  in  themselves,  as  no  others 
did,  the  prevailing  philosophical  tendencies,  and  turned 
them  to  account  in  religious  thought. 

Schleiermacher. — In  a  study  of  Schleiermacher  (i  768-1834) 
the  student  should  take  into  account  the  very  diverse  influ- 
ences which  shaped  his  education  and  thought — his  early 
Moravian  schooling,  the  friendship  and  writings  of  the 
Romanticists,  the  Pantheistic  philosophy  of  Spinoza,  the 
critical  philosophy  of  Kant,  and  the  faith-philosophy  of 
Hamann  and  Jacobi.  From  aU  these  sources  he  drew  some- 
thing. But  the  combination  and  use  he  made  of  them  were  his 
own.  His  supreme  interest  was  in  religion,  not  in  philosophy. 
In  an  age  which  was  inclined  to  hold  religion  in  contempt,  and 
to  array  scientific  knowledge  and  philosophical  reflection 
against  it,  he  sought  a  defense  for  it.  To  this  end  he  pre- 
pared the  epoch-making  Reden  for  the  "cultured  despisers  of 
religion,"  and  so  defined  religion  as  to  give  it  an  independent 


456        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

basis  in  the  nature  of  man.  This  was  his  great  contribution — 
a  new  definition,  a  new  conception  of  what  rehgion  was. 
It  was  not  something  secondary,  derivative,  subject  to  the 
fluctuations  or  even  the  opposition  of  science  and  philosophy, 
but  it  was  native  to  the  human  soul,  both  independent  of  and 
before  either  science  or  philosophy.  He  identified  religion 
with  the  original  endowments  of  human  nature  and  integrated 
it  with  the  whole  of  life.  It  was  a  fact,  like  any  other  scien- 
tific fact,  a  personal  experience  of  the  soul;  thus  he  reconciled 
the  conflict  between  faith  and  knowledge,  between  science 
and  religion,  between  the  secular  and  the  sacred,  and  "sought 
to  prepare  a  way  in  which  Christianity  and  the  highest  culture 
might  walk  together  in  harmony."  But  he  also  prepared  the 
way  for  the  modern  grounding  of  religion  in  experience  and 
for  the  study  of  it  as  a  scientific  phenomenon. 

Literature. — The  student  will  find  the  fundamental  religious  phi- 
losophy of  Schleiermacher  in  his  Reden  and  Glaubenslehre.  The  former 
has  been  translated  by  John  Oman  under  the  title  On  Religion  (London : 
Kegan  Paul,  Trench,  1893).  The  latter  has  been  abridged  and  freely 
rendered  by  George  Cross,  with  a  valuable  historical  "Introduction" 
and  a  closing  "Estimate,"  under -the  title  The  Theology  of  Schleiermacher 
(Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  191 1).  The  student 
should  not  fail  to  read  the  latest  special  survey  of  the  life  and  teaching 
of  Schleiermacher  by  Selbie,  Schleiermacher:  A  Critical  and  Historical 
Study  (New  York:  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.,  1913). 

Ritschl. — Ritschl  (1822-89)  dealt  with  the  same  problem 
of  the  relation  between  faith  and  knowledge,  between  science 
and  religion,  that  Kant  and  Schleiermacher  had  faced.  He 
was  governed  by  the  same  motive  of  reconciling  them,  and 
followed,  in  general,  the  same  method  of  reconciliation.  His 
solution  of  the  problem  consisted  in  a  new  definition  of  religion 
on  the  basis  of  Kant's  and  Schleiermacher 's  contributions. 
He  combined  with  them,  however,  related  suggestions  from 
Herbart  and  Lotze.  With  Ritschl  the  philosophy  of  religion 
which  has  steadily  developed  from  Kant  and  the  faith  philoso- 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      457 

phers  through  Schleiermacher  in  the  direction  of  a  subjective, 
independent  basis  for  religion,  and  of  a  sharp  distinction 
between  reHgious  and  scientific  knowledge,  has  come  to  its 
final  expression  in  a  conception  of  religion  as  a  "value- 
judgment."  Out  of  this  conception  have  grown  the  latest 
developments  in  the  field  of  religious  philosophy.  This 
Kant-Schleiermacher-Ritschlian  conception  has  been  the 
most  common  defense  of  religion  against  science,  and  the 
ground  of  their  separation  and  freedom. 

Literature. — On  the  relation  of  modern  philosophy  to  modern  Chris- 
tianity in  general  the  student  should  consult  McGiffert,  The  Rise  of 
Modern  Religious  Ideas  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1915),  and  Protestant 
Thought  before  Kant  (New  York:  Scribner,  191 1);  E.  C.  Moore,  Chris- 
tian Thought  since  Kant  (New  York:  Scribner,  1912);  G.  P,  Fisher, 
History  of  Christian  Doctrine,  pp.  269-557  (New  York:  Scribner,  1896); 
A.  V.  G.  Allen,  The  Continuity  of  Christian  Thought,  pp.  307-438  (Boston: 
Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1897) ;  J.  H.  Dorner,  Geschichte  der  protestantischen 
Theologie  (Stuttgart:  Cotta,  1868;  English  translation  by  Robson  and 
Taylor,  History  of  Protestant  Theology  [Edinburgh:  Clark,  187 1]);  Otto 
Pfleiderer,  Religionsphilosophie  auf  geschichtlicher  Grundlage  (Berlin: 
Reimer,  1878;  English  translation.  The  Philosophy  of  Religion,  on  the 
Basis  of  Its  History,  3  vols.  [London:  Williams  &  Norgate,  1886]),  and 
The  Development  of  Theology  in  Germany  since  Kant  (New  York:  Mac- 
millan, 1890);  Windelband,  A  History  of  Philosophy,  pp.  348-681,  trans- 
lation by  J.  H.  Tufts  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1901);  Josiah  Royce,  The 
Spirit  of  Modern  Philosophy  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1892); 
R.  B.  Perry,  Present  Philosophical  Tendencies  (New  York:  Longmans, 
Green,  &  Co.,  1912);  articles  on  "Deism,"  "The  Enlightenment," 
"Rationalism  and  Supernaturalism,"  "Schleiermacher,"  "Ritschl,"  in 
the  New  Schaf-Herzog  Encyclopedia,  12  vols.  (New  York:  Funk  & 
Wagnalls  Co.,  1908). 

On  rationaUsm  and  its  relation  to  religious  thought,  in  addition  to 
relative  sections  in  the  foregoing  Hterature,  read  C.  Beard,  The  Reforma- 
tion of  the  Sixteenth  Century  in  Relation  to  Modern  Thought,  the  Hibbert 
Lectures  for  1883  (London:  WilUams  &  Norgate,  1883),  in  which  the 
attitude  of  the  reformers  toward  reason  is  treated;  Tulloch,  Rational 
Theology  in  Englatid  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  2  vols.  (London:  Black- 
woods,  1886),  which  deals  with  the  Latitudinarians  and  the  Cambridge 
Platonists;  Leslie  Stephen,  History  of  English  Thought  in  the  Eighteenth 


458        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Century  (London:  Smith  &  Elder,  1876),  which  deals  with  the  Deists; 
Benn,  History  of  Rationalism  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  (London:  Long- 
mans, Green,  &  Co.,  1906). 

For  Kant,  besides  the  general  works  above  named,  consult  F. 
Paulsen,  Imniatiuel  Kant,  His  Life  and  Doctrine  (New  York:  Scribner, 
1902). 

For  Schleiermacher  consult  G.  Cross,  The  Theology  of  Schleiermacher 
(Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1911);  W.  B.  Selbie, 
Schleiermacher:  A  Critical  and  Historical  Study  (New  York:  Dutton, 
1913),  which  is  the  latest  and  best  special  treatise  in  English.  A  fuller 
bibliography  is  given  in  the  New  Schaf-Herzog  Encyclopedia  and  in 
Cross's  book. 

For  Ritschl  consult  A.  E.  Garvie,  The  Ritschlian  Theology  (Edin- 
burgh: Clark,  1899)  (it  is  "the  standard  discussion,"  says  the  following 
author);  R.  Mackintosh,  Albrecht  Ritschl  and  His  School  (London: 
Chapman  &  Hall,  1915);  Swing,  The  Theology  of  Albrecht  Ritschl  (New 
York:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1901);  J.  Orr,  The  Ritschlian  Theology 
and  the  Evangelical  Faith  (London:  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1907);  J.  K. 
Mozley,  Ritschlianism  (London:  Nisbet,  1909);  E.  A.  'Edgehill,  Faith 
and  Fact:  A  Study  of  Ritschlianism  (London:  Macmillan,  19 10);  J. 
Wendland,  Albrecht  Ritschl  und  seine  Schiller  (Berlin:  Reimer,  1899). 

IV.      THE   HISTORICAL  MOVEMENT 

Until  very  recent  times  the  entire  course  of  human  his- 
tory has  been  treated  by  historians  as  if  it  were  under  the 
guidance  of  a  supernatural  agency.  Even  after  political 
history  ceased  to  be  treated  from  the  point  of  view  that 
postulated  a  ruling  Providence  in  its  course,  religious  history 
was  still  regarded  as  providential  and  exempt  from  the 
natural  conditions  of  other  history.  Its  literature,  insti- 
tutions, and  events  were  held  to  have  been  divinely  shaped 
into  the  forms  which  they  have  assumed. 

The  genetic  treatment  of  history. — The  tendency  to  treat 
the  literature  and  institutions  of  religious  history  as  natural 
developments  out  of  historical  conditions  is  what  is  meant  by 
the  historical  movement.  It  is  the  -principle  of  natural 
causation — ^the  scientific  method — applied  to  religious  litera- 
ture and  history. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY     459 

Development  of  historical  method. — The  historical  method 
has  been  gradually  developed  since  the  fifteenth  century- 
through,  the  discovery  and  appHcation  of  the  following  prin- 
ciples: the  principle  of  historical  correlation  or  correspondence; 
the  principle  of  historical  development;  and  the  principle  of 
historical  uniformity.  These  principles  are  the  presupposi- 
tions of  all  modern  historical  research  and  interpretation. 

The  principle  of  historical  correlation. — All  modern  scien- 
tific historical  scholars  now  take  for  granted  the  principle  of 
the  historical  correlation  of  contemporaneous  and  consecu- 
tive events  and  processes.  Things  happen  in  history  in  rela- 
tion to  other  things  and  bear  the  marks  of  those  relations. 
It  is  assumed  that  persons,  documents,  and  events  are  made 
under  given  conditions  of  time  and  place,  and  that  they  will 
invariably  bear  the  markings  of  their  time  and  place.  They 
are  correlated  and  will  therefore  correspond  to  each  other. 
The  older  historical  research  and  interpretation,  which 
were  under  the  influence  of  the  supernaturalistic  or  provi- 
dential presupposition,  treated  religious  and  much  political 
history  as  out  of  all  relation  to  conditions  of  time  and  place. 
This  principle  is  the  essence  of  the  procedure  of  determining 
the  date,  authority,  and  genuineness  of  historical  documents. 

The  principle  of  historical  correlation  was  recognized  in 
the  literary  criticism  of  Greek  and  Roman  scholars,  but  after 
their  time  it  disappeared  from  use  until  the  fifteenth  century. 
Its  employment  by  Valla  and  others  in  the  fifteenth  century 
inaugurated  the  modern  historical  movement. 

The  principle  of  historical  development. — ^The  principle  of 
historical  development  gradually  made  its  appearance  during 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.  This  principle 
assumes  that  everything  historical — nature,  man,  society, 
language,  literature,  law,  government,  morality,  and  religion, 
with  all  their  institutions — passes  through  a  process  of 
growth  from  simple,  embryonic  beginnings,  and  that  every- 
thing is  governed  in  this  process  by  the  properties  of  its  own 


460        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

nature  and  the  conditions  relative  to  it.  It  is  really  the 
principle  of  correlation  applied  to  successive  stages  of  the 
same  changing  organism. 

The  principle  of  historical  uniformity. — The  principle  of 
historical  uniformity  was  the  last  to  receive  recognition  in 
the  development  of  historical  research.  It  assumes,  like 
the  doctrine  of  uniformism  in  geology,  that  the  causes,  forces, 
and  processes  with  which  the  historian  has  to  do  in  the  past 
are  identical  with  the  causes,  forces,  and  processes  which  are 
in  operation  at  the  present  time.  Human  history,  it  is 
assumed,  has  always  been  the  same  as  it  is  today.  The 
apparent  differences  between  events  in  the  past  and  present 
are  due,  not  to  real  differences  in  what  took  place,  but  to  a 
difference  of  interpretation.  The  tendency  in  many  past 
periods,  as<  in  many  present  stages  of  culture,  has  been  to 
interpret  events  supernaturally;  the  same  events  are  inter- 
preted at  present,  and  in  advanced  stages  of  culture,  on  a 
basis  of  natural  occurrence.  It  is  the  recognition  of  the  reign 
of  natural  law  in  history  as  in  nature.  Hence  the  modem 
historian  attempts  to  explain  past  events  in  the  light  of 
present  events,  governed  always,  however,  by  the  particular 
evidences  in  the  case.  This  principle  has  received  special 
application  in  the  case  of  myths,  legends,  and  miracles  in  his- 
tory, and  also  in  the  case  of  the  study  of  comparative  religion. 
Joined  with  the  developmental  principle,  it  has  formed  the 
basis  for  a  unification  of  the  religious  phenomena  of  all 
periods  and  peoples.  The  principle  is  really  grounded  in  the 
conceptions  of  the  continuity  of  history  and  of  the  unity  of 
the  race. 

The  historical  study  of  the  Bible. — The  employment  of  the 
historical  method  in  either  ''secular"  or  "sacred"  history 
was  impossible  so  long  as  historical  learning  was  exclusively 
in  the  hands  of  the  church,  as  it  was  during  the  mediaeval 
period,  or  even  so  long  as  it  was  under  the  influence  of  theo- 
logical motives,  as  it  was  until  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      461 

century.  But  the  employment  of  the  historical  method  in 
the  study  of  bibHcal  or  "sacred"  Hterature  and  history  was 
delayed,  through  the  dogmatic  behef  in  the  inspired  and 
providential  nature  of  that  literature  and  history,  long 
after  other  fields  of  history  had  admitted  it.  And  even  then 
the  earliest  application  of  the  method  to  biblical  literature 
was  undertaken  by  scholars  outside  of  orthodox  religious 
circles  at  great  risk  to  reputation  and  well-being;  and  only  in 
the  last  decade  or  two  has  it  been  possible  to  take  this  step 
with  entire  immunity  from  persecution. 

The  method  has,  however,  steadily  won  its  way  to  favor — 
even  in  religious  circles  which  repudiated  it  as  "  infidel "  a 
generation  ago— through  sheer  force  of  discovered  facts,  of  the 
confirmations  of  archaeology  and  the  comparative  sciences, 
and  of  the  general  spread  of  the  rational  spirit  of  veracity. 
The  struggle  for  the  right  of  free  historical  investigation  in 
every  realm  of  Christian  literature  and  history  has  cost  more 
than  a  hundred  years  of  effort  in  the  face  of  the  bitterest 
opposition  and  not  a  few  "martyrs"  to  the  cause. 

History  of  biblical  criticism. — Turning  now  to  the  rise  and 
progress  of  the  historical  movement  in  religious  literature  and 
history,  the  student  should  give  special  attention  to  the  influ- 
ence of  Humanism,  the  Reformation,  rationalism,  the  idealistic 
philosophy,  and  evolutionary  science. 

The  movement  began  with  Valla  (1405-57),  Erasmus 
1466-1536),  and  other  Humanists  in  an  application  of  the 
critico-historical  methods  known  to  them  to  classical  litera- 
ture, then  to  ecclesiastical  documents,  and  finally  to  bibli- 
cal literature.  Their  work  was  largely  confined  to  textual 
criticism.  The  Reformation  quickly  checked  this  movement 
in  the  direction  of  biblical  criticism,  but  promoted  it  in 
application  to  the  history  and  documents  of  mediaeval 
Catholicism. 

The  rise  of  rationahsm  prepared  the  way  for  the  applica- 
tion of  historical  methods  to  biblical  literature.     Benedict 


462        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Spinoza  (1632-77)  was  one  of  the  first  in  modern  times  to 
discover  the  intimate  relation  between  bibHcal  Hterature  and 
its  contemporaneous  history.  He  anticipated,  in  his  Tractatus " 
theologico-politicus,  the  most  modern  conception  of  the  depend- 
ence of  the  interpreter  upon  a  knowledge  of  the  history  of 
Scripture.  On  the  basis  of  this  principle  he  denied  the 
Mosaic  authorship  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  thus  inaugurated 
the  modern  historico-critical  study  of  Scripture. 

The  denial  of  the  Mosaic  authorship  of  the  Pentateuch  by 
Spinoza,  Hobbs,  Simon,  and  others  led  to  the  discovery  of 
the  "documentary  hypothesis"  by  Jean  Astruc  (1684- 1749). 
Out  of  this  discovery  has  grown,  after  many  modifications, 
the  modern  analysis  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  most 
important  contributions  to  this  phase  of  Old  Testament  study 
were  made  by  J.  G.  Eichhorn  (1752-1822),  the  first  to  give 
to  the  method  the  name  "higher  criticism";  J.  A.  Ernesti 
(1707-81),  who  opposed  the  allegorical  method  of  interpreta- 
tion with  the  conception  of  "one  literal  sense"  and  declared 
"the  Bible  should  be  interpreted  as  any  other  book";  J.  D. 
Michaelis  (17 17-91),  who  was  the  first  to  attempt  an  inter- 
pretation of  the  laws  and  history  of  Israel  as  a  natural 
political  rather  than  providential  religious  phenomenon;  and 
Alexander  Geddes  (1737-1802),  who  modified  the  "docu- 
mentary theory"  by  the  so-called  "fragment  theory"  and 
extended  the  analytical  documentary  method  to  the  entire 
Pentateuch  and  to  other  books  of  the  Bible. 

Historical  criticism  of  the  Old  Testament. — A  new  epoch 
in  biblical  study  opened  with  the  discovery  of  the  principle  of 
historical  development.  It  arose  outside  the  field  of  biblical 
study,  but  it  was  immediately  applied  to  biblical  literature 
and  history.  The  idea  of  development  in  nature  and  in 
history  had  taken  possession  of  the  most  diverse  circles  of 
thought  during  the  eighteenth  century.  It  was  to  be  found 
among  scientists,  philosophers,  poets,  archaeologists,  philolo- 
gists, and  historians.     They  were  all  working  with  it.     The 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      463 

common  illustration  of  it  was  the  various  stages  of  human 
life  from  infancy  to  old  age.  Such  is  the  history  of  the  race, 
they  said.  But  it  remained  for  Darwin  and  the  evolutionary 
scientists  to  make  the  complete  demonstration  of  it,  and  to 
estabhsh  it  as  a  fixed  presupposition  in  every  field  of  historical 
as  well  as  scientific  investigation.  Gunkel  remarks:  "It 
was  the  great  ideahstic  poets  and  thinkers  of  Germany  who 
originated  this  conception  of  history,  and  great  masters,  such 
as  Vatke,  Baur,  Wellhausen,  and  Harnack,  have  transferred  it 
to  the  sphere  of  religion." 

No  conception  of  history  has  meant  so  much  for  modern 
Christian  scholarship  as  this  one,  especially  in  the  genetic 
form  which  it  has  assumed  more  recently  through  the  influ- 
ence of  evolutionary  science. 

Among  the  first  to  apply  the  idea  of  development,  as 
stages  of  growth,  to  the  history  of  Israel  was  Lessing  (1729- 
81);  but  the  first  to  make  this  idea  the  basis  of  a  critical 
investigation  and  reconstruction  of  the  literature  and  his- 
tory of  Israel  was  Wilhelm  Vatke  (1806-82).  The  course 
of  Old  Testament  criticism  since  1835,  the  date  of  the  publica- 
tion of  Vatke's  work,  has  followed  the  direction  taken  by 
him.  Its  task  has  been  to  determine  the  order  of  develop- 
ment in  the  religious  life  and  institutions  of  Israel,  and, 
on  the  basis  of  this  order,  to  reconstruct  the  facts  of  the  date 
and  authorship  of  Old  Testament  books. 

The  study  of  Old  Testament  literature  has  thus  termi- 
nated in  a  study  of  the  life,  ideas,  customs,  and  institutions 
embraced  by  it  or  contemporary  with  it  as  a  condition  of 
understanding  the  Hterature  itself.  The  principle  of  develop- 
ment belongs  first  of  all  to  history  and  then  to  the  literature 
as  a  record,  a  reflection,  and  a  product  of  the  history.  History 
is  primary  and  original;  literature  is  secondary  and  derivative. 
Biblical  interpretation  limited  to  a  study  of  the  literature  alone 
soon  ran  its  course  and  discovered  its  dependence  upon  history. 
This  is  the  principle  of  the  historical  method;   and  it  was  in 


464        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

this  form  that  bibhcal  study  produced  such  startling  resuUs 
during  the  nineteenth  century. 

Historical  criticism  of  the  New  Testament. — ^The  his- 
torical method  began  to  be  applied  to  the  New  Testament  by 
Semler  (1725-91),  and  he  was  followed  by  Eichhorn  and 
De  Wette  in  the  employment  of  the  same  methods.  Two 
events  occurred  in  1835,  however,  which  make  this  an  epoch- 
making  date  in  the  historical  study  of  the  New  Testament: 
the  publication  of  the  Lehen  Jesu  by  Strauss,  and  of  the  work 
on  the  Pastoral  Epistles  by  F.  C.  Baur,  As  in  the  field  of 
Old  Testament  study,  so  in  the  New,  the  attention  of  scholars 
was  steadily  forced  to  focus  upon  the  persons,  ideas,  and 
institutions  involved  in  the  literature,  or  contemporary 
with  it,  as  a  condition  of  understanding  the  literature  itself. 
It  was  this  which  led  to  that  most  characteristic  phase  of  the 
historical  movement  during  the  nineteenth  century — the  study 
of  the  life  of  Jesus.  Just  what  its  course  of  development 
was  and  what  it  achieved  for  the  modern  understanding  of 
Jesus  has  been  carefully  traced  and  explained  by  Weinel  and 
Schweitzer. 

The  critical  study  of  church  history. — Coincident  with 
its  rise  in  the  study  of  Old  and  New  Testament  history  and 
literature  the  historical  method  began  to  be  applied,  with 
epoch-making  results,  first  to  early  church  history  by  Baur 
and  Hatch,  and  then  to  the  entire  field  of  church  history, 
including  both  doctrine  and  institution,  by  such  leaders  as 
Ranke,  Ritschl,  Harnack,  and  Sohm. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  influence 
of  historical  investigation  in  the  field  of  comparative  religion 
began  to  dominate  the  study  of  Hebrew  and  Christian  origins 
and  gave  rise  to  the  so-called  religionsgeschichtliche  Schule, 
which  places  the  emphasis  upon  the  comparative  method  and 
upon  the  genetic  aspects  of  development.  Historical  events 
have  a  genealogy;  they  are  not  only  modified  by  contempo- 
rary conditions,  but  grow  out  of  antecedent  forms.     Hermann 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      465 

Gunkel,  in  his  paper  before  the  Berlin  Congress  of  Liberal 
Christianity  in  1910,  to  which  the  student  is  especially  referred, 
declared  that  this  new  tendency  in  historical  investigation 
was  not  entirely  new,  but  "a,  new  wave  "  upon  "  the  surface  of 
of  the  historical  stream."  The  ground-thought,  he  said,  which 
at  the  present  day  "rules  all  true  historical  investigation"  is 
''that  the  spiritual  life  of  mankind  is  a  unity,  and  that  it  is,  by 
a  certain  orderly  arrangement,  bound  together  as  a  whole. 
....  Everything  has  come  into  being  by  a  continuing 
process,  each  with  its  own  special  character  and  yet  in  some 
measure  to  be  brought  into  comparison  with  the  rest." 

Literature. — On  the  origin  and  development  of  the  modern  historical 
movement  in  general,  E.  Fueter,  Geschichte  der  Neuen  Historiographie 
(Munich:  Oldenburg,  1911),  is  the  latest  and  best  history  of  historical 
writings  from  the  fifteenth  century  to  the  present  time.  It  covers  both 
secular  and  religious  historiography,  but  chiefly  secular.  G.  P.  Gooch, 
History  and  Historians  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  (New  York:  Longmans, 
Green,  &  Co.,  1913),  is  a  brilliant  work,  dealing  almost  wholly  with 
secular  historical  writing.  See  also  R.  Flint,  History  of  the  Philosophy 
of  History  (New  York:   Scribner,  1894). 

On  the  method  of  procedure  in  modern  historical  research  in  general, 
E.  Bernheim,  Lehrbuch  der  historischen  Methode  und  der  Geschichts- 
philosophie  (Leipzig:  Duncker  und  Humblot,  1908),  deals  briefly  with 
the  history  of  historical  writing  and  with  the  philosophy  of  history,  as 
well  as  with  the  method.  See  also  Langlois  and  Seignobos,  Introduction 
to  the  Study  of  History  (London:  Duckworth,  1898);  and  J.  M.  Vincent, 
Historical  Research  (New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  191 1). 

On  the  method  of  historical  research  and  the  history  of  its  applica- 
tion to  biblical  literature  and  history  in  part  or  as  a  whole  consult  A.  C. 
Zenos,  The  Elements  of  the  Higher  Criticism  (New  York:  Funk  &  Wag- 
nails  Co.,  1895);  H.  S.  Nash,  The  History  of  the  Higher  Criticism  of  the 
New  Testament  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1900);  Otto  Pfleiderer,  The 
Development  of  Theology,  pp.  209-77  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1890);  F. 
Lichtenberger,  History  of  German  Theology  in  the  Nineteenth  Century, 
pp.  374-420  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1889);  T.  K.  Cheyne,  Fomuiers  of  Old 
Testament  Criticism  (New  York:  Scribner,  1893);  Die  Religion  in  Ge- 
schichte uiui  Gegenwart,  article  "Bibelwissenschaft";  A.  D.  White,  A 
History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology,  II,  288-396  (New  York : 
Applet  on,  1898). 


466        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

On  the  historical  study  of  the  life  of  Jesus  and  of  early  Christianity 
consult  A.  Schweitzer,  Von  Reimarus  zu  Wrede;  eine  Geschichte  der  Lehen- 
Jesu  Forschung  (Tiibingen:  Mohr,  1906;  English  translation  by  Mont- 
gomery, The  Quest  of  the  Historical  Jesus  [London:  Black,  19 10]);  H, 
Weinel,  Jesus  im  neunzehnten  Jahrhundert  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1904; 
2d  ed.,  1907);  H.  Weinel  and  A.  G.  Widgery,  Jesus  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century  and  After  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1914);  M.  Jones,  The  New  Testa- 
ment in  the  Twentieth  Century  (London:  Macmillan,  1914). 

For  the  rise  of  the  historical  method  in  the  study  of  church  history 
consult  F.  C.  Baur,  Die  Epochen  der  kirchlichen  Geschichtsschreibung 
(Tubingen:  Fues,  1852) ;  Bratke,  Wegweiser  zur  Quellenkunde  der  Kirch- 
engeschichte  (Gotha:  Perthes,  1890);  C.  H.  Walker,  "The  Trend  in  the 
Modern  Interpretation  of  Early  Church  History,"  American  Journal  of 
Theology,  XVI  (191 2),  614-33.  See  also  chap,  xxvi  in  Gooch,  History 
and  Historians  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  (see  above);  and  chap,  iv  in 
E.  C.  Moore,  Christian  Thought  since  Kant  (New  York:  Scribner,  191 2). 

On  the  opposition  in  orthodox  religious  circles  to  the  employment  of 
the  historical  method  in  biblical  and  ecclesiastical  history,  consult  A.  D. 
White,  A  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology,  II,  288-396 
(New  York:  Appleton,  1898);  A.  Houtin,  La  Question  biblique  chez  les 
catholiques  de  France  en  XI X^  siecle  (Paris:  Picard,  1902),  and  La  Ques- 
tion biblique  au  XX^  siecle  (Paris:  Nourry,  1906);  J.  Kubel,  Geschichte 
des  katholischen  Modernismus  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1909);  A.  Houtin, 
Histoire  du  modernisme  catholique  (Paris:  Nourry,  19 13). 

On  the  application  of  the  historical  method  to  the  study  of  religion 
in  general  (comparative  religion)  consult  C.  P.  Tiele,  "The  Study  of 
Comparative  Religion,"  World's  Parliament  of  Religion  (Chicago: 
Parliament  Pub.  Co.,  1893),  I,  583-90.  M.  Jastrow,  The  Study  of 
Religion  (New  York:  Scribner,  1901),  contains  a  valuable  bibliography 
of  the  historical  movement  and  an  admirable  sketch  of  the  rise  of  the 
historic  method  in  religion.  See  also  L.  H.  Jordan,  Comparative  Religion, 
Its  Genesis  and  Growth  (New  York:  Scribner,  1905);  the  New  Schajf- 
Herzog  Encyclopedia,  article  "Comparative  Religion";  Die  Religion  in 
Geschichte  und  Gegenwart,  article  "  Religionsgeschichte  und  Religions- 
geschichtliche  Schule";  M.  Reischle,  Theologie  und  Religionsgeschichte 
(Tubingen:  Mohr,  1904);  H.  Gunkel,  "The  History  of  Religion  and 
Old  Testament  Criticism,"  Congress  of  Free  Christianity,  Berlin,  1910, 
pp.  114-26  (London:  Williams  &  Norgate,  191 1). 

V.      THE    SOCIAL   MOVEMENT 

The  phrase  "social  movement"  has  come  into  general  use 
to   designate   the   modern   movement   toward   the   poHtical 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      467 

enfranchisement  and  the  social  betterment  of  the  masses  of 
the  people. 

The  sense  of  social  responsibility. — Out  of  the  movement 
has  grown  the  sense  of  social  responsibility  which  is  so 
dominant  an  element  in  modern  Christianity.  By  social 
responsibility  is  meant  the  obligation,  not  only  to  save  the 
human  soul  in  a  future  world,  but  to  save  the  human  being — 
body,  mind,  and  soul — ^in  the  present  world.  In  other  words, 
modern  Christianity  has  identified  itself  with  the  present 
cultural  task  of  civilization,  believing  that  this  belongs  to 
the  purpose  of  Christ  and  to  the  scope  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven.  In  this  study  the  student  has  to  do  with 
tracing  the  historic  origin  and  development  of  this  peculiar 
trend  of  modern  civilization  and  of  its  coalescence  with 
Christianity. 

Elements  of  the  social  consciousness. — If  one  should  take 
a  cross-sectional  view  of  the  movement  at  the  present  time, 
with  a  view  to  distinguishing  the  elements  that  enter  into  it, 
he  would  discover,  among  the  more  conspicuous,  the  following 
historical  elements:  a  primitive  Christian  element,  which 
contributes  a  new  conception  of  the  worth  and  dignity  of  man 
as  related  to  God  and  to  his  fellow-man;  a  humanistic 
element,  which  emphasizes  the  worth  of  man  as  man  and  of  the 
present  order;  a  democratic  element,  which  emphasizes  the 
dignity  and  capacity  of  maa  as  a  self-governing  political 
being;  a  rationalistic  element,  which  emphasizes  the  sover- 
eignty and  trustworthiness  of  the  mind  of  man;  and  a  humani- 
tarian element,  which  emphasizes  the  supreme  sanctity  of 
all  human  life.  All  of  these  elements  are  closely  related  in 
meaning  and  testify  to  the  presence  of  a  single  growing 
conviction  which  is  the  common  root  of  all  of  them — the 
supreme  worth  of  man  as  man  in  his  present  state  of  existence. 
This  is  in  effect  the  controlling  idea  of  the  modern  social 
movement,  and  should  be  used  by  the  student  as  its  distin- 
guishing mark.  Wherever  there  has  appeared  in  modern 
history  a  tendency  to  exalt  the  worth  of  the  individual  or  to 


468        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

improve  the  lot  of  the  masses  there  should  be  recognized  a 
contribution  to  the  social  movement. 

Sources  of  the  social  movement. — It  will  be  found  that 
contributions  to  the  social  movement  have  come  from  very 
diverse  sources — from  pohtics,  religion,  and  philosophy, 
from  science  and  industry,  and  from  literature  and  art.  Every 
current  of  modern  civilization  has  borne  some  contribution 
to  the  worth  of  man.  If  one  were  to  make  an  exhaustive 
study  of  all  the  influences  which  have  helped  to  create  the 
social  movement  it  would  involve  a  complete  history  of 
the  modern  world — a  complete  account  of  modern  progress. 
It  is  pre-eminently  the  distinctive  work  and  the  product  of 
modern  civilization. 

The  modern  social  movement  has  unfolded  through  the 
reciprocal  influence  of  several  parallel  and  yet  fairly  distinct 
phases  of  human  activity,  each  of  which  has  embodied  some 
principle  of  social  idealism  and  contributed  some  decisive 
influence  to  the  total  result.  The  student  will  be  enabled 
to  see  more  clearly  the  development  in  process  if  it  is  resolved 
into  the  following  separate  phases:  the  political  phase,  the 
philanthropic  phase,  the  industrial  phase,  the  socialistic 
phase,  the  literary  phase,  and  the  religious  phase.  But 
the  student  should  be  reminded  again  that  these  phases  are 
interwoven  in  a  common  process;  that  they  are  but  parts 
of  a  larger  whole,  like  the  separate  strands  in  a  single  cable; 
and,  still  further,  that  they  did  not  take  form  apart  from 
each  other  or  in  a  vacuum,  but  in  a  common  social  medium 
which  determined  their  likeness.  They  are  children  of  one 
social  parentage  and  were  brought  up  together. 

While  the  student  is  chiefly  concerned  in  this  study  with 
the  religious  phase,  he  must  remember  that  it  cannot  be 
explained  without  a  study  of  all  the  other  phases  with  which 
it  has  been  interwoven  in  its  development.  No  adequate 
treatment  of  all  these  phases  in  their  mutual  relations  and 
influences  has  appeared  in  print.     The  general  surveys  which 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      469 

have  been  made,  such  as  those  by  Kidd  and  Nash,  are  more 
philosophical  and  apologetic  than  historical.  The  student  is 
compelled  to  seek  his  information  in  treatises  on  the  separate 
phases  of  the  movement,  and  to  be  constantly  making  his 
own  correlations  between  them. 

In  a  study  of  the  religious  phase  of  the  social  movement 
the  student  will  observe  that  modern  Christianity  has  com- 
pletely identified  itself,  both  in  theory  and  in  practice,  with 
modern  social  ideals  and  aims.  The  gospel  of  Jesus  has  been 
completely  transformed  into  a  social  gospel  by  many  influ- 
ential interpreters,  and  the  foremost  enterprises  of  the  modern 
church  are  gradually  taking  on  the  form  of  social  enterprises. 
The  problem  of  the  student  is  to  ascertain  how  and  when  this 
humanitarian  element,  this  ethico-social  emphasis,  found  its 
way  into  modern  Christianity. 

The  socializing  of  modem  Christianity. — Stated  briefly 
and  generally,  it  may  be  said  that,  in  becoming  ethico- 
social,  modern  Christianity  has  simply  followed  the  course 
of  modern  ethical  development.  As  modern  ethics  has 
passed  from  the  authoritative  to  the  experimental  and 
from  the  individualistic  to  the  social,  so  has  modern  Chris- 
tianity. (Dewey  and  Tufts  have  given  in  outline  the  nature 
and  course  of  this  development  in  their  work  entitled  Ethics 
[New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1908]).  This  is  merely 
to  state  again  the  guiding  principle  of  this  study,  namely, 
that  modern  Christianity  has  been  an  integral  part  of  the 
modern  social  process,  and  as  such  has  been  both  cause  and 
effect,  creator  and  creature,  of  that  process.  Christianity 
has  simply  kept  abreast  of  the  highest  ethical  ideals  of 
the  highest  modern  civilization.  It  could  do  no  less  and 
survive.  But  since  it  has  helped  to  create  those  ideals, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  it  has  found  them  true  to  its  own 
nature. 

Modern  Christianity  moved  through  two  stages  of  devel- 
opment in  becoming  ethico-social:   first  of  all  there  was  a 


470        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

development  from  the  dogmatic  to  the  ethical,  and  then 
from  the  ethical  to  the  ethico-social. 

The  development  of  Christianity  from  a  dogmatic  to  an 
ethical  interest. — The  first  stage  of  development  was  begun 
in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  through  the  rise 
of  Humanism  and  the  Protestant  Reformation.  Both  move- 
ments exalted  the  worth  of  the  individual:  the  one  through 
its  appreciation  of  the  natural  and  the  human  in  all  of  its 
forms,  in  art  and  literature  and  thought;  the  other  through 
its  individualistic  and  psychical  conception  of  salvation,  its 
doctrine  of  the  equality  of  believers,  and  its  resort  to  the 
Scriptures.  Kautsky  and  Bax  have  shown  that  even  before 
the  Reformation  there  was  a  widespread  propagation  of 
ethico-social  ideas  among  the  peasantry  of  the  continent  and 
of  England,  on  the  basis  of  an  appeal  to  natural  human  rights 
and  to  the  teaching  of  Scripture.  This  is  clearly  shown  in  the 
socialistic  tendencies  of  the  Anabaptists  and  of  the  Lollards. 

But  the  Reformation  did  not  achieve  at  once  all  that  its 
principles  involved.  Its  ethico-social  tendencies  were  counter- 
acted by  other  aristocratic  tendencies — ^such  as  the  doctrine  of 
divine  sovereignty  and  election  and  the  acquiescence  of  the 
older  types  of  Protestantism,  especially  Lutheranism  and 
Anglicanism,  in  the  absolutism  of  the  civil  ruler.  Calvinism 
-was  free  from  this  latter  tendency  and  was  more  democratic; 
but  it  remained  for  later  Free-church  movements  to  make  the 
greatest  advances  toward  ethical  Christianity. 

The  earliest  decisive  contributions  were  made  by  the 
Socinians,  the  Arminians,  and  the  Latitudinarians  in  their 
emphasis  upon  the  authority  of  the  human  reason  and  the 
conditional  nature  of  salvation.  The  Arminians  taught 
that  the  divine  sovereignty  was  conditioned  by  ethical  prin- 
ciples and  limited  by  an  element  of  human  freedom.  Man 
took  on  a  new  importance  in  relation  to  God.  The  Arminians 
went  even  farther  and  declared  that  Christianity  did  not 
consist  in  the  acceptance  of  revealed  doctrine,  but  in  living 
a  right  Hfe.     The  human  element  thus  became  decisive. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY       471 

Another  movement  in  the  direction  of  ethical  rehgion  was 
inaugurated  by  the  Pietists,  and  was  carried  out  by  the 
Moravians  and  the  Methodists,  who  united  an  inward, 
mystical  piety  with  a  practical  devotion  to  the  well-being  of 
men,  both  in  this  world  and  in  the  world  to  come.  The 
natural  tendency  of  the  Pietistic  and  Methodistic  type  of 
religion  toward  brotherly  love  and  charity  is  abundantly 
illustrated  in  the  philanthropies  of  Franke  at  Halle,  the 
missionary  work  of  the  Moravians,  and  the  outbreak  of 
humanitarianism  in  England  on  the  heels  of  the  Methodist 
revival  and  the  evangelical  awakening.  Hall  has  made  a 
special  study  of  the  ethico-social  influences  of  Methodism 
in  his  work  on  The  Social  Meaning  of  Modern  Religious 
Movements  in  England,  while  North  has  more  recently  de- 
scribed ''Early  Methodist  Philanthropy"  in  the  book  bearing 
that  title. 

The  practical  testing  of  Christianity. — But  it  was  through 
the  same  religious  movements  that  the  way  was  being  pre- 
pared for  the  experimental  treatment  of  Christianity.  The 
fundamental  religious  test  of  Pietism  and  Methodism  was 
experimental — by  their  feelings,  first  of  all,  and  then  "by 
their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  As  religion  became 
dominantly  personal  and  ethical  it  became  experimental  and 
practical.  It  was  Schleiermacher  who  supplied  the  theoretical 
basis  of  the  experimental  treatment  of  religion  in  his  con- 
ception of  religion  as  a  native  property  of  the  human  soul. 
Religion  began  to  be  something  that  could  be  presently  and 
inwardly  studied  and  determined.  God  bore  witness  to  his 
presence  immediately  in  the  soul,  and  the  life  of  God  in  man 
was  capable  of  demonstration.  The  incongruity  between  the 
authoritative  origin  and  legal  nature  of  religion  and  its 
experimental  nature  was  not  at  first  discerned. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  new  religious  movements  of 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries— Arminianism, 
Pietism,  Quakerism,  and  Methodism — were  moving  in  the 
direction  of  an  ethical  religion,  philosophical  reflection  was 


472         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

creating  an  impulse  in  the  same  direction.  This  was  the 
trend  of  rationaHsm  in  its  conception  of  a  natural,  innate 
morality.  It  tended  steadily  in  the  direction  of  an  exalta- 
tion of  the  moral  capacity  and  worth  of  the  individual,  thus 
aiding  and  abetting  the  ethical  trend  in  religion  at  every  step. 

The  transition  from  an  ethical  to  a  social  interest.— In 
studying  the  transition  from  the  ethical  to  the  ethico-social 
conception  of  Christianity  the  student  must  go  outside  of 
the  religious  movement  for  decisive  influences.  Religious 
thought  moved  strictly  within  philosophical  and  theological 
lines  during  the  entire  eighteenth  and  the  first  half  o"  the 
nineteenth  century.  But  in  the  meantime  the  social  impulse 
which  was  destined  to  create  a  new  epoch  *n  religious  thought 
and  activity  was  gathering  force  in  the  sphere  of  industry. 
It  appeared  earliest  in  England;  and  what  took  place  in 
England  finally  took  place  throughout  Europe  and  America 
before  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  was  the  so- 
called  "Industrial  Revolution." 

Out  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  came  the  prophets  of  a 
new  social  order  in  which  all  human  miseries  should  be  done 
away  with — Owen  in  England  and  St.  Simon  and  Fourier  in 
France.  While  St.  Simon  and  others  saw  in  a  pure,  primitive 
Christianity  a  solvent  for  social  ills,  religion  had  not  yet  been 
generally  invoked  on  behalf  of  social  welfare.  The  church 
stood  with  the  rulers  and  on  the  side  of  the  established 
order  of  things. 

The  literary  prophets  of  the  social  ideal. — The  Hterary 
prophets  were  the  connecting  link  between  the  new  social 
impulses  and  religious  thought.  Vida  M.  Scudder  has  made  a 
special  study  of  the  social  influence  of  the  great  English 
prose  writers  between  1830  and  1880,  to  which  the  student  is 
referred.  Carlyle  and  Ruskin  in  England,  Turgenieff  and 
Tolstoi  in  Russia,  and  Sand  and  Hugo  in  France  introduced 
the  ethico-social  ideal  to  the  popular  mind  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  by  making  it  respectable,  not  to  say  fashionable, 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      473 

forced  it  upon  the  attention  of  the  leaders  of  organized 
Christianity. 

Out  of  this  atmosphere  there  sprang  up  a  Christian  SociaHst 
party  in  England  among  the  Protestants  under  the  leadership 
of  Maurice  and  Kingsley,  and  among  the  Catholics  of  Ger- 
many under  the  leadership  of  Bishop  von  Ketteler. 

It  began  to  be  said  openly  in  all  religious  circles,  after 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  first  by  Seeley  and 
Freemantle,  and  then  by  a  host  of  others  in  the  church 
in  England  and  America,  that  Jesus  came  to  save  the 
whole  man — body,  mind,  and  spirit — in  the  present  world, 
and  not  merely  his  spirit  in  the  world  to  come.  Thus 
the  ethico-social  emphasis  found  its  way  into  modern 
Christianity. 

Literature. — For  the  religious  phase  of  the  social  movement  consult 
J.  R.  Seeley,  Ecce  Homo  (London,  1865);  W.  H.  Freemantle,  The  World 
as  the  Subject  of  Redemption  (London:  Rivington,  1885;  New  York: 
Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1895);  W.  Gladden,  Applied  Christianity 
(Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1893);  S.  Mathews,  The  Social  Teaching 
of  Jesus  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1902);  R.  T.  Ely,  Social  Aspects  of 
Christianity  (New  York:  T.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co.,  1899);  L.  Abbott,  Chris- 
tianity and  Social  Problems  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1890); 
W.  Rauschenbusch,  Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis  (New  York:  Mac- 
millan, 1907) ;  H.  C.  Vedder,  Socialism  and  the  Ethics  of  Jesus  (New 
York:  Macmillan,  1912);  E.  Troeltsch,  Die  Soziallehren  der  christlichen 
Kirchen  und  Gruppen  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  19 12);  K.  Kautsky,  Der 
Kommunismus  im  Mittelalter  und  im  ZeitaUer  der  Reformation  (Stuttgart : 
Dietz,  1895;  English  translation.  Communism  in  Central  Europe  in  the 
Time  of  the  Reformation  [London:  Unwin,  1897]);  E.  B.  Bax,  The  Social 
Side  of  the  Reformation  in  Germany,  3  vols.  (London:  Sonnenschein, 
1894-1903);  T.  C.  Hall,  The  Social  Meaning  of  Modern  Religious  Move- 
ments in  England  (New  York:  Scribner,  1900);  A.  C.  McGiffert,  The 
Rise  of  Modern  Religious  Ideas,  chap,  xiii  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1915) ; 
J.  Tulloch,  Movements  of  Religious  Thought  in  Great  Britain  during  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  2  vols.  (New  York:  Scribner,  1893) ;  G.  A.  Warneck, 
Outline  of  the  History  of  Protestant  Missions  (Edinburgh:  Oliphant,  1906) ; 
J.  S.  Dennis,  Christian  Missions  aiul  Social  Progress,  3  vols.  (Chicago: 
Revell,  1897-1906). 


474        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

For  the  distinctive  elements  of  the  modem  social  consciousness 
consult  H.  C.  King,  Theology  and  the  Social  Consciousness  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1902) ;  W.  Gladden,  Ruling  Ideas  of  the  Present  Age  (Boston: 
Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1895). 

For  a  general  historical  survey  of  the  social  movement  as  a  whole 
consult  B.  Kidd,  Social  Evolution  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1902);  H.  S. 
Nash,  Genesis  of  the  Social  Conscience  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1897); 
J.  Dewey  and  J.  H.  Tufts,  Ethics,  pp.  17-197  (New  York:  Henry  Holt  & 
Co.,  1908);  H.  C.  King,  The  Moral  and  Religious  Challenge  of  our  Times 
(New  York:  Macmillan,  191 1);  T.  Ziegler,  Die  geistigen  und  sozialen 
Stromungen  des  neunzehnten  Jahrhunderts  (Berlin:   Bondi,  1901). 

For  the  socialistic  phase  of  the  social  movement,  J.  Rae,  Contemporary 
Socialism  (New  York:  Scribner,  1898),  is  a  history  of  socialism;  M. 
Hillquit,  Socialism  in  Theory  and  Practice  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1909), 
gives  a  sympathetic  exposition  of  socialism;  R.  T.  Ely,  Socialism  and 
Social  Reform  (New  York:  T.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co.,  1894),  furnishes  a  critical 
survey,  with  an  extensive  bibliography.  See  also  Nitti,  Catholic  Socialism 
(London:    Sonnenschein,  1895). 

For  the  literary  phase  of  the  social  movement  consult  G.  Brandes, 
Main  Currents  in  Nineteenth  Century  Literature,  6  vols.  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1906);  K.  Francke,  A  History  of  German  Literature  as  Deter- 
mined by  Social  Forces  (New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1907);  V.  D. 
Scudder,  Social  Ideals  in  English  Letters  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co., 
1900) ;  L.  J.  Wylie,  Social  Studies  in  English  Literature  (Boston:  Hough- 
ton Mifflin  Co.,  1916). 

For  the  industrial  phase  of  the  social  movement  consult  A.  Toynbee, 
The  Industrial  Revolution  (London:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1890); 
W.'  Cunningham,  The  Industrial  Revolution  (Cambridge:  University 
Press,  1908);  G.  H.  Ferris,  Industrial  History  of  Modern  England  (New 
York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1914);  S.  and  B.  Webb,  The  History  of  Trade 
Unionism  (London:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1894);  B.  L.  Hutchins 
and  A.  Harrison,  A  History  of  Factory  Legislation  (Westminster:  King, 
1907);  R.  T.  Ely,  Studies  in  the  Evolution  of  Industrial  Society  (New 
York:  Macmillan,  1906);  Florence  Kelley,  Some  Ethical  Gains  through 
Legislation  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1905). 

For  the  political  phase  of  the  social  movement  consult  W.  A.  Dun- 
ning, History  of  Political  Theories  from  Luther  to  Montesquieu  (New 
York:  Macmillan,  1905);  D.  G.  Ritchie,  Natural  Rights  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1895) ;  G.  L.  Scherger,  The  Evolution  of  Modern  Liberty  (New 
York:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1904);  G.  P.  Gooch,  A  History  of 
English  Democratic  Ideas  in  the  Seventeenth  Century  (Cambridge:    Uni- 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      475 

versity  Press,  1898);  C.  E.  Merriam,  A  History  of  American  Political 
Theories  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1903);  P.  A.  R.  Janet,  Histoire  de  la 
science  politique  dans  les  rapports  avec  la  morale  (Paris:  Alcan,  1913); 
J.  H.  Rose,  Rise  of  Democracy  (New  York:  Duffield,  1904);  T.  E.  May, 
Democracy  in  Europe  (New  York:  Armstrong,  1895);  E.  J.  Lowell,  The 
Eve  of  the  French  Revolution  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1892). 

For  the  philanthropic  phase  of  the  social  movement  consult  C.  L. 
Brace,  Gesta  Christi  (New York:  Armstrong,  1890) ;  R.  A.  Woods,  English 
Social  Movements  (New  York:  Scribner,  1891);  C.  R.  Henderson,  The 
Social  Spirit  in  America  (Chicago:  Scott,  Foresman  &  Co.,  1901),  and 
Social  Programmes  in  the  West  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago 
Press,  1913);  C.  S.  Loch,  Charity  and  Social  Life  (London:  Macmillan, 
1910);  F.  H.  Wines,  Punishment  and  Reformation:  An  Historical  Sketch 
of  the  Rise  of  the  Penitentiary  System  (New  York:  T.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co., 
1895) ;  E.  M.  North,  Early  Methodist  Philanthropy  (New  York:  Method- 
ist Book  Concern,  1915);  F.  Mackay,  The  English  Poor:  A  Sketch  of 
Their  Social  and  Economic  History  (London:  Murray,  1889);  B.  K. 
Gray,  A  History  of  English  Philanthropy  (Westminster:  King,  1905). 

VI.      THE  MISSIONARY  MOVEMENT 

The  influence  of  missionary  ideals  on  modem  Christianity. 

— Any  historical  account  of  the  origin  and  development  of 
modern  Christianity  cannot  overlook  the  influence  of  modern 
missions.  The  contact  of  Western  Christianity  with  the 
non- Christian  religions  and  peoples  of  the  East  has  resulted  in 
decisive  modifications  of  modern  religious  thought.  Modern 
Christianity  would  not  be  what  it  is  without  modern  missions. 
The  modification  of  missionary  activities  due  to  modem 
thought. — But  on  the  other  hand  modern  religious  thought 
has  been  profoundly  reacting  upon  modem  missions. 
Missionary  motives  and  methods,  the  entire  attitude  of  the 
missionary  toward  non- Christian  religions,  have  been  under- 
going a  rapid  transformation  during  the  last  ten  or  twenty 
years.  It  has  gradually  dawned  upon  the  entire  missionary 
management,  at  home  and  abroad,  that  the  old  approach  to 
non-Christian  peoples,  on  the  basis  of  the  old  religious  ideas 
and  methods,  and  in  the  old  spirit,  was  one  of  the  principal 
causes  of  "the  failure  of  modern  missions."    And  there  has 


476        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

recently  appeared  among  missionary  leaders  an  outspoken 
approval  of,  and  an  eager  resort  to,  modern  religious  ideas 
for  the  solution  of  the  most  acute  problems  in  the  mission 
field.  In  their  opinion  there  seems  to  have  been  a  most 
providential  timing  of  the  appearance  of  these  problems 
with  the  rise  of  modern  religious  thought. 

The  development  of  a  cordial  attitude  toward  modem 
ideas. — This  change  has  been  going  on  quietly  among  a  few 
missionaries  for  many  years,  but  it  has  found  no  open  expres- 
sion until  within  the  last  ten  years.  Modern  religious  thought 
was  completely  banned  from  missionary  conferences  and  lit- 
erature previous  to  1888.  Small  consideration  and  scant 
courtesy  were  shown  it  in  the  London  Conference  of  1888; 
slightly  more  consideration  was  shown  it  in  the  New  York 
Conference  of  1900;  but  in  the  meantime  courage  had  entered 
into  a  few  of  the  great  leaders,  and  by  the  time  of  the  Edin- 
burgh Conference  of  19 10  they  were  ready  to  face  the  modern 
situation  frankly  and  to  discuss  it  freely.  Vol.  IV  of  the 
Report  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference  is  a  marvelous  disclosure 
of  the  coalescence  of  statesmanlike  missionary  conviction  with 
modern  religious  thought. 

Factors  in  the  broader  view  of  missions. — -The  decade  from 
1900  to  1 9 10  marks  an  epoch  in  the  advancement  of  the 
catholic  attitude  toward  non-Christian  religions.  Several 
conditions  brought  this  about  or  helped  to  make  it  possible: 
the  progress  of  the  science  of  comparative  religion,  the 
gradual  triumph  of  modern  religious  ideas  and  the  spirit  of 
catholicity  in  the  West,  the  sending  out  of  a  new  generation 
of  missionaries  more  or  less  acquainted  with,  if  not  trained  in, 
the  new  ideas,  and  the  discovery  through  actual  missionary 
experience  that  a  sympathetic,  appreciative  attitude  toward 
the  non-Christian  religions  was  absolutely  essential  to  mis- 
sionary success.  This  was  the  almost  unanimous  testimony 
of  the  missionaries  who  contributed  to  the  Edinburgh  Report. 
The  tenor  of  all  was  in  substance  expressed  by  one  who  said : 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY       477 

The  missionary  should  rejoice  in  every  element  of  truth  and  goodness 
that  he  finds  in  the  religion  and  in  the  practice  of  the  people  with  whom 
he  has  to  deal,  seeing  that  all  truth  and  all  goodness,  wheresoever  found, 
come  through  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  however  ignorant  a  per- 
son may  be  of  this  source.  Every  religion  exists  by  reason  of  the  truth 
which  is  in  it,  not  by  virtue  of  its  falsehood  {Report,  IV,  20). 

Some   problems   which   missionaries   must  face. — It   is 

perfectly  apparent  that  this  new  attitude  toward  the  non- 
Christian  religions  raises  at  once  every  problem  of  modern 
religious  thought:  the  problems  of  the  conception  of  revela- 
tion and  of  inspiration  and  of  the  authority  of  Scripture;  of 
the  conception  of  God  and  of  his  relation  to  the  race;  of  the 
conception  of  Christ  and  of  his  redemptive  and  prophetic 
supremacy;  of  the  conception  of  salvation  and  its  conditions 
and  of  retribution  and  its  nature.  The  epoch-making  signifi- 
cance of  the  Edinburgh  Conference  was  the  recognition  by 
its  leaders  and  members  that  theological  questions  were  for 
the  missionary  crucial  problems,  and  that  the  only  way  out  for 
the  missionary  was  to  think  every  problem  through  cour- 
ageously in  the  light  of  all  modern  knowledge  and  conviction. 
And  the  various  commissions  attempted  to  help  the  mis- 
sionary to  do  this  as  far  as  it  was  possible  within  the  time 
at  their  disposal. 

All  this  mighty  ferment  of  problems  in  the  mission  field 
has  reacted  upon  thought  and  action  at  home.  The  student 
should  look  for  the  missionary  influence  upon  modern  Chris- 
tianity chiefly  in  the  following  spheres  of  distinctly  modern 
thought  and  activity:  comparative  religion,  Christian 
apologetics,  the  ethico-social  movement,  the  Christian  union 
movement.  It  is  not  possible  to  refer  the  student  to  any 
book  which  deals  expressly  with  this  question. 

The  study  of  comparative  religion  and  missionary  ideals. 
— The  science  of  comparative  religion,  one  of  the  most 
typical  expressions  of  the  historical  movement,  owes  much 
to  foreign  missions — just  how  much  it  is  not  easy  to  determine. 


478        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Various  opinions  are  held  regarding  this  indebtedness. 
Missionary  leaders  and  workers  are  inclined  to  overestimate 
it,  while  the  scientists  are  inclined  to  ignore  it  or  to  under- 
estimate it.  Robert  E.  Speer  says  that  "for  most  of  its 
knowledge  of'lhe  non-Christian  religions  and  peoples  the 
West  is  indebted  to  missionaries."  G.  T.  Purves  said  in 
the  New  York  Conference  of  1900  that  Christian  missions 
have  "made  possible  the  science  of  comparative  religion." 

Literature. — Materials  for  a  study  of  this  question  may  be  found 
in  Jordan's  works  on  comparative  religion  and  in  the  New  Schaff-Herzog 
Encyclopedia,  article  "Comparative  Religion,"  with  selected  bibliog- 
raphy. Important  sources  for  such  a  study  would  lie  in  missionary 
biography  and  history.  There  is  no  work  on  this  question  so  far  as  I 
know. 

While  the  comparison  of  religions  is  one  of  the  first  and 
most  important  tasks  of  the  missionary  (and  a  few  mis- 
sionaries have  done  creditable  scientific  work  in  this  field) , 
yet  the  range  and  purpose  of  that  comparison  are  quite 
different  from  those  of  the  pure  scientists.  A  distinction 
is  to  be  made  between  the  materials  of  the  science  and  the 
treatment  of  those  materials.  While  the  missionaries  have 
added  greatly  to  the  knowledge  of  oriental  religions,  their 
method  of  treatment  has  been  apologetic  rather  than  scientific. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  uncertainty  as  to  the  indebt- 
edness of  missionaries  to  the  science  of  comparative  religion, 
but  it  has  not  been  possible  frankly  to  acknowledge  it  and 
take  advantage  of  it  until  very  recently.  Commission  IV  of 
the  Edinburgh  Conference  said: 

The  conclusion  is  surely  inevitable  that  provision  should  be  made 
for  thorough  teaching  in  comparative  religion  in  all  our  colleges  and 
training  institutes.  A  new  instrument  of  spiritual  culture  and  propa- 
ganda has  been  put  into  the  hands  of  the  church  by  the  progress  of  this 
science,  and  it  is  surely  a  plain  duty  to  use  it. 

A  new  apologetic  for  Christianity.— The  twentieth  century 
is  face  to  face  with  the  need  of  a  new  Christian  apologetic. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      479 

This  new  need  has  been  precipitated  partly  by  the  develop- 
ment of  modem  science,  modern  philosophy,  and  modern 
society,  but  also  partly  by  modern  missions.  Just  as  the 
new  discoveries  in  modern  science  compelled  a  reconstruction 
of  Christian  apologetics  in  the  light  of  the  new  scientific  facts, 
so  the  discoveries  of  missionaries  in  contact  with  the  non- 
Christian  religions  has  compelled  a  reconstruction  of  Chris- 
tian apologetics  in  the  light  of  the  new  religious  facts.  It  is  a 
new  religious  world  into  which  the  missionary  and  the  com- 
parative religionist  have  introduced  modern  Christianity,  and 
it  has  had  to  be  reckoned  with. 

Literature. — ^Religious  literature  during  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years 
has  grown  rich  with  successive  eflForts  to  restate  the  Christian  apology 
from  the  point  of  view  of  some  one  of  the  ethnic  faiths.  Notable  among 
these  are  the  Haskell  lecturers,  Barrows  and  Hall,  and  the  books  by 
Knox,  Hume,  Lucas,  Hogg,  and  Moulton.     See  bibhography,  p.  481. 

In  contact  with  new  races,  new  societies,  new  religious 
beliefs,  and  new  civilizations  Christianity  is  undergoing  new 
tests,  and  it  is  being  compelled  to  reshape  its  message  and 
redefine  its  essence.  There  has  gradually  arisen  the  outline  of 
a  new  apologetic  whose  fundamental  postulates  are  a  uni- 
versally immanent,  ethical  God  and  an  organically  related  and 
growing  world. 

The  need  of  social  salvation. — Modern  missions  have 
greatly  reinforced  the  ethico-social  movement  in  the  West. 
It  may  be  said  that  the  foreign  missionary  was  really  the  first 
to  go  into  ethico-social  work  with  the  gospel  and  the 
first  to  discover  the  social  nature  of  Christianity.  From  the 
moment  that  he  has  set  foot  upon  heathen  soil  he  has  been 
confronted  with  a  social  barrier  to  the  acceptance  of  the 
Gospel.  The  most  painful  problems  of  the  foreign  missionary 
have  been  those  growing  out  of  the  differences  between  the 
social  ideals  of  Jesus  and  the  social  customs  of  heathenism. 
This  fact  has  raised  one  of  the  most  keenly  debated  questions 
in  modern  missionary  policy:    whether  it  is  the  business  of 


48o        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  missionary  to  evangelize  the  heathen  or  to  Christianize 
heathendom.  Missionaries  have  always  realized  the  need  of 
transforming  the  society  as  a  means  of  saving  the  souls  of  the 
heathen.  Thus  foreign  missions  have  constituted  by  neces- 
sity a  vast  social  philanthropy. 

The  ethico-social  results  of  foreign  missions  have  been 
from  the  beginning  the  most  convincing  argument  in  the  mis- 
sionary apologetic.  Unconscious  of  the  support  which  the 
propaganda  of  missions  at  the  home  base  was  giving  to  the 
social  movement,  every  missionary  sermon  or  appeal  has 
steadily  added  to  the  ethico-social  emphasis  of  modern 
Christianity.  Since  the  unsurpassed  work  of  Dennis  in 
collecting  and  arraying  the  social  results  of  missionary 
work,  no  one  has  doubted  the  social  nature  and  the  social 
value  of  Christianity. 

In  the  foreign  field,  missionary  work  has  assumed  every 
form  of  social  and  personal  philanthropy — ^medical,  educa- 
tional, charitable,  and  industrial. 

Literature. — ^The  attention  of  the  student  is  especially  directed  to  the 
works  of  Dennis,  Capen,  and  Faunce.  There  is  a  valuable  annotated 
bibUography  in  the  work  by  Faunce  and  very  elaborate  though  not 
carefully  selected  bibliographies  appended  to  each  lecture  in  the  work 
by  Dennis.     See  bibliography,  p.  481. 

The  movement  toward  Christian  union. — The  spirit  of 
cathoHcity  is  a  characteristic  product  of  the  modern  mis- 
sionary movement.  It  appears  not  only  in  the  modern  mis- 
sionaries' attitude  toward  non-Christian  religions,  but  in 
their  attitude  toward  each  other's  denominational  beliefs 
and  practices.  In  the  presence  of  a  vast  heathenism  the 
missionaries  of  all  denominations  are  compelled  to  draw 
together. 

The  most  urgent  appeal  for  Christian  union,  during  the 
past  generation,  has  come  from  the  mission  field.  The 
movement  began  with  a  feeling  of  the  need  of  Christian 
comity,  and  rose  to  a  desire  for  federation;    and  in  many 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY      481 

places  it  has  developed  into  a  demand  for  organic  union. 
Various  forms  of  co-operation  have  been  entered  into,  usually 
between  churches  of  the  same  denominational  type.  Some 
of  the  constitutions  of  these  unions  may  be  found  in  the 
appendixes  of  Vol.  VIII  of  the  Edinburgh  Report.  The 
entire  volume  is  given  up  to  the  report  of  the  Commission  on 
Co-operation  and  the  Promotion  of  Unity,  and  is  the  most 
important  appeal  for  Christian  union  ever  sent  out  to  a  divided 
Christendom. 

All  the  great  missionary  conferences  during  the  last  fifty 
years  have  laid  emphasis  upon  the  need  of  union,  and  the 
amount  of  time  devoted  to  the  question  has  steadily  increased 
with  each  succeeding  conference. 

It  is  conceded  that  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the  union  of  the 
churches  in  the  foreign  field  is  the  opposition  of  the  churches 
at  home.  In  the  face  of  this  insistent  demand  of  missionaries 
for  freedom  to  unite  their  forces,  the  churches  at  home  have 
been  compelled  to  take  up  the  problem  of  Christian  union 
and  to  moderate  their  sectarian  attitude  toward  their  sister 
denominations.  The  first  significant  response  to  this  demand 
has  been  the  organization  of  the  Federal  Council  of  Churches 
of  Christ  in  America.  The  student  will  find  the  best  dis- 
cussions of  the  relation  of  foreign  missions  to  the  Christian 
union  movement  in  the  reports  of  the  various  missionary 
conferences  and  in  the  reports  of  the  meetings  of  the  Federal 
Council. 

Literature. — For  the  relation  of  missions  to  modem  religious  thought 
and  to  the  new  apologetic  consult  W.  N.  Clarke,  A  Study  of  Missions 
(New  York:  Scribner,  1900);  R.  A.  Hume,  Missions  from  the  Modern 
View  (New  York:  Revell,  1905);  A.  E.  Garvie,  The  Missionary  Obliga- 
tion in  the  Light  of  Changes  of  Modern  Thought  (London:  Hodder  & 
Stoughton,  1904);  B.  Lucas,  The  Empire  of  Christ  (London:  Macmillan, 
1908);  W.  O.  Carver,  Missions  and  Modern  Thought  (New  York:  Mac- 
millan, 1910);  T.  E.  Slater,  Higher  Hinduism  in  Relation  to  Christianity 
(London:  Stock,  1902);  C.  C.  Hall,  Christ  and  the  Human  Race:  or, 
The  Attitude  of  Jesus  Christ  toward  Foreign  Races  and  Religions  (Boston: 


482        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1906),  and  Christ  and  the  Eastern  Soul  (Chicago: 
The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909);  J.  H.  Barrows,  The  Christian 
Conquest  of  Asia  (New  York:  Scribner,  1899);  A,  G.  Hogg,  Karma  and 
Redemption:  An  Essay  toward  the  Interpretation  of  Hinduism  and  the 
Restatement  of  Christianity  (London:  Christian  Literature  Soc,  1909); 
J.  H.  Moulton,  Religions  and  Religion  (London:  KeUey,  1913);  J. 
Warneck,  The  Living  Forces  of  the  Gospel  (Edinburgh:  Ohphant,  1909); 
D.  C.  Macintosh,  "The  New  Christianity  and  World-Conversion," 
Ainerican  Journal  of  Theology,  XVIII  (July  and  October,  1914),  337-54 
and  553-70;  C.  H.  Robinson,  An  Interpretation  of  the  Character  of  Christ 
to  Non-Christian  Races:  An  Apology  for  Christian  Missions  (London: 
Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1913);  Reports  of  missionary  conferences: 
London,  1888,  II,  89-100  (New  York:  Revell,  1888);  New  York,  1900, 
I>  347~77  (New  York:  American  Tract  Soc,  1900);  Edinburgh,  1910, 
IV  (New  York:  Revell,  1910).  Missionary  magazines,  such  as  The 
East  and  the  West  and  The  International  Review  of  Missions,  contain 
many  valuable  articles  showing  the  modern  trend  of  missionary  thought 
and  activity. 

For  the  relation  of  foreign  missions  to  the  science  of  comparative 
religion  consult  L.  H.  Jordan,  Comparative  Religion:  Its  Genesis  and 
Growth  (New  York:  Scribner,  1905),  and  Comparative  Religion:  Its 
Adjuncts  and  Allies  (London:   Milford,  1915). 

For  the  relation  of  missions  to  the  ethico-social  movement  consult 
J.  S.  Dennis,  Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress,  3  vols,  (New  York: 
Revell,  1897);  W.  D.  Mackenzie,  Christianity  and  the  Progress  of  Man 
(New  York:  Revell,  1898);  J.  L.  Barton,  Human  Progress  through 
Missions  (New  York:  Revell,  1912);  E.  W.  Capen,  Sociological  Progress 
in  Mission  Lands  (New  York:  Revell,  1914);  W.  H.  P.  Faunce,  The 
Social  Aspects  of  Foreign  Missions  (New  York:  Missionary  Education 
Movement,  1914). 

For  the  relation  of  missions  to  Christian  union  consult  Church  Feder- 
ation, pp.  251-94,  333-55  (New  York:  Revell,  1906);  Federal  Council  of 
the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  Philadelphia,  1908  (New  York:  Revell) ; 
Christian  Unity  at  Work,  pp.  81-107  (New  York:  Federal  Council 
of  Churches,  1913);  Reports  of  missionary  conferences:  London,  1888, 1, 
91-109;  11,429-87;  New  York,  1900, 1,  233-77;  Edinburgh,  1910,  VIII; 
R.  E.  Speer,  Christianity  and  the  Nations,  chap,  vi,  "The  Relation  of 
Missions  to  the  Unity  of  the  Church"  (New  York:  Revell,  1910); 
J.  S.  Dennis,  The  Moder^n  Call  of  Missions,  chap,  ix,  "Union  Movements 
in  Mission  Fields"  (New  York:  Revell,  1913);  A.  J.  Brown,  Unity  and 
Missions  (New  York:  Revell,  1915). 


IX.    SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN 

ETHICS 

By  GERALD  BIRNEY  SMITH 
Professor  of  Christian  Theology  in  the  Divinity  School,  University  of  Chicago 


ANALYSIS 

Introduction:   The  Task  of  Systematic  Theology      .        .        .        .     485-486 

I.  The  Method  of  Theological  Inquiry. — The  fundamental  issue 
in  modern  theology. — Orthodoxy  and  modernism. — The  appeal  to 
authority  vs.  the  method  of  free  inquiry. — The  religious  value  of 
critical  honesty. — The  outcome  of  the  historical  study  of  Chris- 
tianity.— ^The  nature  of  a  vital  theology 486-494 

II.  How  Shall  the  Content  of  Christianity  Be  Determined? — 
The  Catholic  method  of  determining  the  content  of  Christianity. — 
Protestant  orthodoxy. — "Liberal"  orthodoxy. — The  appeal  to 
Christian  experience. — The  Ritschlian  theology — The  modem- 
positive  school  of  theology. — Theology  and  idealistic  philosophy. — 

The  definition  of  Christianity  from  the  historical  point  of  view  494-508 

III.  The  Main  Doctrinal  Problems. — ^The  meaning  of  religion. — 
The  Christian  doctrine  of  God. — ^A  vital  faith  during  theological 
reconstruction. — What  do  we  mean  by  salvation? — ^The  problem 
of  sin. — Religious  experience  as  a  natural  development. — The  need  of 
a  revised  theological  vocabulary. — The  relation  between  the  concep- 
tion of  salvation  and  the  doctrine  of  the  person  of  Christ. — The  mod- 
ern interpretation  of  Jesus. — The  need  of  a  positive  understanding  of 

the  new  interest. — The  Christian  life. — The  Christian  hope      .        .     508-540 

IV.  The  Truth  of  Christian  Beliefs. — ^The  defense  brought  by  the 
authority  type  of  theology. — The  modern  conception  of  apologetics. — 

1.  The  so-called  "conflict  between  science  and  rehgion." — The  need 
of  cultivating  the  scientific  spirit. — The  rights  of  religious  faith. 

2.  The  ontological  problem. — The  problem  of  religious  certainty. — 
The  type  of  assurance  compatible  with  the  scientific  spirit. — 3.  The 
problem  of  the  supernatural. — Can  we  draw  a  line  between  the 
natural  and  the  supernatural? — Emphasis  on  quality  rather  than 
origin. — The  real  religious  interest. — 4.  The  problem  of  the  absolute- 
ness of  Christianity. — The  conception  of  revelation  tested  by  his- 
torical fact. — The  appeal  to  a  metaphysical  absolute. — Christianity 
as  a  developing  historical  religion. — 5.  Christianity  and  other  reli- 
gions.— ^The  modern  attempt  to  appreciate  foreign  faiths  .       .  541-561 

V.  Christian  Ethics. — The  historical  evolution  of  Christian 
ethics. — The  ethical  ideal  of  the  primitive  Christians. — The  sub- 
ordination of  ethical  to  theological  interest. — The  Catholic  concep- 
tion of  ethics. — The  ethics  of  Protestantism. — The  need  for  a  new 
conception  of  Christian  ethics. — The  study  of  psychology  and  of  soci- 
ology.— The  spirit  of  Christian  ethics 561-577 


IX.     SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN 

ETHICS 

INTRODUCTION 

What  is  the  task  of  systematic  theology? — Interesting 
as  is  the  history  of  Christianity,  the  primary  concern  of  most 
men  is  with  their  own  religious  problems  and  beliefs.  In  so  far 
as  a  study  of  history  can  aid  in  answering  questions  of  present- 
day  Hfe  it  is  eagerly  used.  But  every  age — indeed,  every 
individual — has  pecuhar  circumstances  to  face,  and  because  of 
these  has  peculiar  questionings.  It  is  the  task  of  the  depart- 
ment of  systematic  theology  to  deal  with  the  vital  religious 
behefs  of  living  men,  to  appreciate  and  to  interpret  the 
questionings  of  contemporaneous  thinking,  and  to  formulate 
the  convictions  which  a  Christian  has  a  right  to  hold  in  the 
light  of  the  actual  conditions  of  religious  thinking  and  living. 

The  peculiar  importance  of  a  study  of  theology  today. — 
The  present  generation  is  passing  through  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  developments  of  religious  thinking  ever  known 
in  human  history.  There  is  very  general  perplexity  and 
uncertainty  concerning  many  phases  of  Christian  doctrine. 
Every  pastor  will  have  in  his  congregation,  and  more  especially 
in  his  community,  persons  who  are  high-minded  and  loyal  to 
good  ideals  but  who  find  little  meaning  or  inspiration  in  the 
inherited  formulations  of  doctrine.  In  order  to  influence  such 
men,  as  well  as  to  inspire  those  who  still  love  the  familiar 
terms  and  phrases,  one  ought  to  know  just  what  doctrines 
have  meant  in  human  history,  and  just  how  the  typical 
experiences  of  Christian  men  today  may  find  adequate  intel- 
lectual formulation.  It  is  precisely  here  that  the  teaching  of 
theology  in  a  modem  divinity  school  differs  most  markedly 
from  that  of  a  generation  ago.  Then  it  was  taken  for  granted 
that  the  inherited  system  of  doctrine  was  entirely  adequate 

485 


486        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

to  express  the  real  convictions  of  Christian  men.  Today 
the  theologian  is  facing  a  world  of  ideas  and  aspirations 
which  owe  their  origin  to  scientific,  social,  and  industrial 
activities  which  have  altered  the  conditions  of  human  living. 
He  must  therefore  consider  the  problems  of  religious  belief  in 
relation  to  all  these  comparatively  new  but  intensely  real 
factors  of  modern  life,  and  so  formulate  Christian  convictions 
that  they  may  enable  men  to  carry  their  religion  into  all 
realms  of  life.  Theology  may  be  defined  as  the  attempt  to 
think  over  our  religious  inheritance  in  the  light  of  present 
problems,  so  as  to  formulate  for  today  and  to  transmit  to  the 
coming  generation  an  expression  of  faith  vitally  related  to 
our  actual  life.  There  is  no  short  and  easy  way  of  gaining  a 
theology  today.  We  must  creatively  think  through  a  host  of 
problems  which  found  no  place  in  the  theological  treatises  of 
former  days,  just  because  the  conditions  of  life  formerly  were 
different  from  the  exigencies  of  thought  and  of  action  which 
we  must  daily  confront.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  following 
discussion  to  call  attention  to  the  principal  problems  which 
a  theological  student  today  must  face,  and  to  indicate  the  way 
in  which  beliefs  are  to  be  worked  out. 

I.      THE  METHOD  OF  THEOLOGICAL  INQUIRY 

The  fundamental  issue  in  modem  theology. — We  have 
inherited  the  conception  of  Christianity  as  a  perfect  revela- 
tion of  truth  which  abides  substantially  unchanged  from  age 
to  age.  The  theologian,  from  this  point  of  view,  is  not  search- 
ing for  truth,  as  are  men  who  deal  with  mere  human  science. 
His  truth  is  "given"  to  him  by  revelation,  and  has  only  to 
be  effectively  expounded  and  interpreted.  According  to  this 
^  conception,  the  most  that  a  modern  theologian  might  expect  to 
accomplish  in  the  way  of  advance  would  be  to  point  out  the 
inadequacy  of  former  interpretations.  But  he,  like  all  his 
predecessors,  would  be  expected  to  find  the  content  of  Chris- 
tian truth  already  given  in  the  Bible. 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS     487 

But  what  does  the  history  of  religious  thinking  reveal? 
Has  the  content  of  Christianity  actually  remained  constant  ? 
Have  not  the  exigencies  of  changing  human  experience  com- 
pelled a  changing  theology?  For  example,  do  we  take 
seriously  today  the  bibHcal  doctrine  of  demons?  On  the 
other  hand,  are  we  not  vitally  interested  in  some  doctrines 
about  which  biblical  writers  knew  nothing,  as,  for  example, 
the  conception  of  evolution?  The  fact  that  Christian  the- 
ology has  actually  been  developing  and  changing  throughout 
its  history  comes  into  conflict  with  the  theory  of  a  divinely 
authorized,  unchangeable  content  of  doctrine. 

Orthodoxy  and  Modernism. — The  above-mentioned  ques- 
tion is  crucial  in  all  divisions  of  Christianity.  In  Roman 
Catholicism  the  advocates  of  unyielding  authority  are  in 
serious  controversy  with  the  "Modernists"  who  recognize  the 
fact  and  the  significance  of  historical  evolution.  Nowhere  is 
this  issue  more  clearly  stated  than  in  the  EncycUcal  Letter  of 
Pope  Pius  X  against  Modernism  and  in  the  Programme  of 
Modernism  put  forth  in  reply.  The  papal  letter  judges  every- 
thing on  the  basis  of  conformity  to  the  authoritatively  pre- 
scribed system.  The  Modernists  declare  that  historical 
facts  must  be  frankly  recognized,  even  if  it  be  necessary  to 
modify  the  system.  Precisely  the  same  division  of  opinion 
runs  through  Protestantism.  "  Orthodoxy  "  and  "  hberalism" 
can  scarcely  understand  each  other,  for  each  starts  from 
premises  which  the  other  would  deny.  Our  traditional 
denominational  divisions  prevent  Protestants  from  reaUzing 
the  importance  of  this  issue  as  it  is  realized  in  Catholicism; 
but  it  is  more  or  less  keenly  felt  by  every  thoughtful  man. 
To  study  the  task  of  theology  in  the  light  of  this  fundamental 
cleavage  is  imperative  if  the  student  is  to  understand  the 
problems  of  theological  thinking  today. 

Literature. — The  Programme  of  Modernism  and  the  Encyclical  of 
Pius  X  (New  York:  Putnam,  1908)  is  perhaps  the  most  illuminating 
theological   debate  of  our  day.     McGifTert,  Protestant   Thought  before 


^ 


488        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Kant  (New  York:  Scribner,  191 1)  and  The  Rise  of  Modern  Religious 
Ideas  (New  York:  Macmillan,  191 5),  should  be  read  for  a  clear  historical 
account  of  the  development  of  the  theological  situation  which  we  con- 
front. Other  suggestive  treatments  are  Troeltsch,  "  Protest  antisches 
Christentum  und  Kirche  in  der  Neuzeit,"  in  Kultur  der  Gegenwart, 
Tail  I,  Abt.  IV,  pp.  253-458  (Leipzig:  Teubner,  1906),  and  Protestantism 
and  Progress  (New  York:  Putnam,  19 12);  G.  B.  Smith,  Social  Idealism 
and  the  Changing  Theology  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1913);  Mathews, 
The  Church  and  the  Changing  Order  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1907); 
Youtz,  The  Enlarging  Conception  of  God  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1914). 

The  change  from  the  method  of  appeal  to  authority  to 
the  method  of  free  inquiry. — In  attempting  to  formulate 
our  beliefs  today,  we  are  subject  to  pressure  from  the  two 
ideals  described  above.  On  the  one  hand  is  the  inherited 
demand  that  the  system  of  doctrine  which  has  been  authori- 
tatively promulgated  shall  be  transmitted  unimpaired. 
Every  Christian  is  familiar  with  the  injunction  to  hold  fast 
the  ''  faith  once  delivered."  On  the  other  hand,  many  thinkers 
of  our  time  feel  that  this  inherited  system  does  not  do  justice 
to  the  demands  of  living  faith.  There  is  a  rapidly  increasing 
number  of  loyal  Christians  who  insist  that  religious  beliefs 
must  be  large  enough  to  include  the  truth  of  modern  discovery 
as  well  as  the  truth  of  ancient  Scripture.  What,  now,  is 
the  task  of  the  theologian  ?  Is  he  primarily  the  custodian 
of  an  authorized  system  ?  If  so,  his  sole  task  will  be  tt) 
expound  the  content  of  the  revelation  which  has  been  com- 
mitted to  him.  Or  is  the  modern  theologian,  like  the  modern 
physician  or  the  modern  educator,  to  ask  how  the  interests 
of  living  men  may  best  be  cared  for  ?  If  so,  he  must  be  ready 
to  modify  or  to  discard  traditional  doctrines  whenever  investi- 
gation sheds  new  light  on  religious  problems.  Theology  in 
such  a  case  would  alter  the  content  of  religious  hypotheses  as 
readily  as  any  science  alters  the  content  of  its  hypotheses  in 
response  to  more  exact  knowledge. 

Protestant  theology  is  beginning  to  abandon  the  method  of 
appeal  to  authority;  but  it  has  not  yet,  as  a  rule,  come  to  face 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS     489 

squarely  the  tests  of  free  investigation,  as  have  other  branches 
of  human  knowledge.  The  student  will  find  that  most  theo- 
logical writings  today  are  characterized  by  considerable 
vagueness  and  by  many  inconsistencies.  While  the  inade- 
quacy of  the  mere  appeal  to  authority  is  generally  recognized 
by  modern  theologians,  nevertheless  their  habits  of  thinking 
have  generally  been  formed  under  the  sway  of  the  authority 
ideal,  and  they  are  constantly  seeking  to  find  some  acceptable 
way  of  continuing  to  employ  the  familiar  method.  Thus 
while  the  older  supports  are  admittedly  weakening,  men  have 
not  yet  learned  to  rely  confidently  on  the  somewhat  unfamiKar 
supports  of  critical  examination.  There  is  a  general  desire 
to  find  some  basis  which  "criticism"  cannot  touch.  The 
student  should  realize  that  we  are  living  through  a  transition 
period  in  which  theologians  are  not  very  sure  of  themselves.     -^ 

A  primary  question  of  moral  loyalty. — The  method  of 
appeal  to  authority  involves  the  enlistment  of  a  high  moral 
loyalty.  If  the  theologian  has  been  intrusted  with  a  divinely 
authorized  message,  loyalty  bids  him  deHver  it  in  its  integ- 
rity. Any  departure  from  the  authorized  truth  would  be 
dishonorable.  It  would  be  like  treachery  to  the  government 
which  one  has  sworn  to  uphold.  Heresy  from  this  point  of 
view  is  wilful  sin. 

If,  now,  a  theologian  does  actually  depart  from  the  author- 
ized content  of  doctrine,  he  has  to  meet  the  traditional  feehng 
that  he  is  a  traitor  to  the  cause.  So  strong  is  this  feeling  that 
a  religious  man  today  is  almost  inevitably  compelled  to 
adopt  an  apologetic  method  of  setting  forth  new  doctrines. 
He  is  led  to  use  the  familiar  terms  and  phrases,  so  far  as  pos- 
sible, and  to  make  what  he  holds  to  be  true  seem  as  much  like 
orthodox  doctrine  as  possible.  The  traditional  conception  of 
moral  loyalty  brings  the  strong  temptation  to  make  the  duty 
of  conformity  more  important  than  the  duty  of  exact  truth- 
telling.  New  meanings  are  thus  smuggled  in  under  familiar 
labels,  with  a  resulting  lack  of  clearness  in  thinking. 


490        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  student  should  recognize  the  dangers  involved  in 
serving  two  masters  in  his  attempts  at  theologizing.  He 
should  see  that  there  are  really  two  very  different  questions 
which  may  be  asked  when  one  confronts  the  task  of  construct- 
ing a  doctrinal  statement.  One  question  is,  "What  is  the 
content  of  authorized  belief?"  The  other  is,  "What,  in  the 
light  of  careful,  critical  study,  is  the  truth?"  The  student 
should  make  clear  to  himself  which  question  is  guiding  him. 
Much  confusion  arises  in  modern  theology  from  the  fact  that 
these  questions  are  not  clearly  distinguished.  Fidelity  to  the 
implications  of  the  first  question  would  mean  that  the  student 
must  eHminate  all  personal  preferences  and  seek  to  make  his 
thinking  conform  to  that  of  Scripture.  Fidelity  to  the  view- 
point of  the  second  question  would  mean  that  critical  inquiry 
must  determine  what  one  shall  say. 

Now,  critical  methods  do  enter  fundamentally  into  any 
theology.  But  the  conclusions  dictated  by  criticism  are  fre- 
quently so  shaped  and  modified  as  to  appear  to  be  results 
of  mere  interpretation  of  Scripture.  The  danger  in  such 
attempts  is  that  one  may  eventually  have  neither  good 
exegesis  nor  good  criticism.  Modern  books  on  theology  fre- 
quently indulge  in  clever  rhetorical  statements  which  serve, 
indeed,  to  allay  the  fears  of  conservative  Christians,  but 
which  also  fail  to  meet  the  demands  of  earnest  and  exact  think- 
ing. Such  adjustments  of  statement  are  likely  to  involve 
a  failure  to  be  thoroughly  loyal  either  to  Scripture  or  to  the 
demands  of  criticism.  And  when  stern  loyalty  is  relaxed, 
the  door  to  clever  timeserving  is  wide  open. 

The  religious  value  of  critical  honesty. — Probably  there 
is  no  greater  need  today  than  the  acquirement  of  an  attitude 
which  does  not  involve  distrust  of  the  processes  of  critical 
examination.  Every  intelhgent  man  knows  that  critical 
scholarship  prevails  in  all  important  modern  theological 
schools.  Moreover,  while  occasionally  an  individual  is 
unable   to  unite  positive  religious  conviction  with  critical 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS     491 

methods,  there  is  no  evidence  that  those  who  employ  critical 
scholarship  are  as  a  rule  any  more  lacking  in  religious  devotion 
and  power  than  are  those  who  fear  critical  methods.  The 
attempt  to  retain  the  appeal  to  authority  and  at  the  same  time 
to  cultivate  an  acquaintance  with  critical  methods  leads  to  a 
habit  of  "harmonization"  which  withholds  one  from  the  kind 
of  accuracy  essential  to  self-respect  and  to  real  influence  with 
men.  It  is  of  fundamental  importance  that  the  student  of 
theology  should  learn  to  feel  the  religious  value  of  honestly 
facing  the  facts.  The  man  who  has  taken  this  attitude  of 
absolute  loyalty  to  whatever  proves  itself  to  be  true  possesses 
a  spiritual  strength  which  can  never  be  attained  by  one  who  is 
in  constant  dread  lest  "criticism"  make  inroads  into  his 
faith.  It  is  only  as  one  comes  to  feel  that  loyalty  to  the 
truth  is  more  religious  than  mere  conformity  to  a  prescribed 
statement  that  the  full  value  of  critical  methods  will  appear. 
Because  of  timidity  and  attempts  at  compromise  the  "new 
theology"  has  not  yet  had  an  opportunity  to  disclose  its 
entire  power.  So  long  as  departures  from  traditional  positions 
must  be  made  apologetically  there  is  the  tacit  admission 
that  strict  conformity  is  morally  better.  If  this  be  admitted, 
any  departure  from  the  authorized  doctrine  exists  on  suffrance. 
The  theologian  wilhng  to  make  "  concessions  "  to  modem  ideas 
seems  made  of  less  heroic  stuff  than  one  who  defies  innova- 
tions. Only  a  devotion  to  the  interests  of  modern  life  which 
shall  express  something  of  the  religious  passion  which  animated 
Jesus  in  his  rebuke  to  Pharisaic  conformity  can  adequately 
strengthen  one  who  faces  the  future  rather  than  the  past. 
Without  this  conviction  of  moral  compulsion  a  "new" 
theology  will  be  nothing  more  than  a  pleasing  essay. 

The  value  of  historical  study  for  the  student  of  theology. — 
One  whose  task  it  is  to  uphold  a  prescribed  doctrine  will 
inevitably  employ  the  method  of  debate.  One's  own  position 
is  put  in  the  most  favorable  light  possible,  while  opposing 
views  are  discredited  by  all  possible  means.     The  systematic 


492        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

theologies  which  employ  the  method  of  appeal  to  authority 
make  large  use  of  debate.  The  controversial  spirit  prevails. 
Denominational  distinctions  are  emphasized. 

The  historical  method  of  studying  theology  means  the 
abandonment  of  the  debater's  attitude.  For  example, 
while  the  debater  will  seek  out  all  possible  considerations 
which  enable  him  to  afhrm  or  to  deny  the  Mosaic  authorship 
of  the  Pentateuch,  the  historical  student  must  refuse  to  allow 
his  study  to  be  determined  by  a  preconceived  theory.  He 
must  attempt  to  take  account  of  all  the  facts,  and  must  let 
his  conclusions  be  dictated  by  these  facts.  Modern  historical 
study  presupposes  the  painstaking  examination  of  all  the 
evidence  rather  than  the  determined  defense  of  a  theory 
declared  authoritatively  to  be  the  ''truth."  While  the 
adherent  of  the  method  of  appeal  to  authority  is  primarily 
concerned  with  content  of  doctrine,  the  historical  scholar  is 
primarily  concerned  with  accuracy  of  investigation.  Thus 
while  abandonment  of  a  doctrine  seems  to  the  believer  in 
authority  like  radical  disloyalty,  it  is  an  incidental  matter 
to  the  historical  scholar.  The  latter  is  concerned  that  the 
investigation  shall  be  accurate,  whatever  may  be  the  result  in 
content  of  doctrine.  He  inevitably  feels  a  confidence  in  a 
critically  established  doctrine  which  he  could  not  feel  in  any 
theory  which  has  not  been  subjected  to  criticism.  Conclu- 
sions reached  by  historical  inquiry  may  be  revised  or  even 
abandoned  without  involving  distress  of  spirit,  or  without 
involving  any  sense  of  moral  disloyalty  to  the  old.  One 
thus  obtains  a  spiritual  anchorage.  Changes  in  religious 
convictions  become  possible  without  the  period  of  moral 
disintegration  engendered  by  the  attempt  to  compromise 
with  the  dogmatic  attitude.  As  a  steadying  power  for  stu- 
dents of  theology  in  this  transitional  age  the  value  of  train- 
ing in  the  methods  of  historical  interpretation  can  scarcely 
be  overestimated.  Certainly  no  student  ought  to  attempt 
to  deal  with  the  problems  of  systematic  theology  today  with- 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS     493 

out  first  having  learned  the  full  significance  of  the  historical 
study  of  the  Bible  and  of  Christian  history. 

The  outcome  of  the  historical  study  of  Christianity. — The 
historical  study  of  Christianity  makes  it  clear  that  religion  is 
always  in  the  making.  Every  generation  inherits  from  the 
preceding  age  certain  doctrines  and  ideals  which  were 
wrought  out  in  the  struggles  and  the  triumphs  of  faith  in  the 
past.  But  each  new  generation  has  to  ask  its  own  questions. 
New  conditions  arise,  making  necessary  adjustments  of  faith. 
Out  of  efforts  at  adjustment  changes  in  doctrine  come  about. 
Historical  study  attempts  to  explain  the  significance  of 
doctrine-making  in  terms  of  the  actual  questions  which  were 
being  asked  and  for  which  satisfactory  answers  were  being 
sought.  The  historical  student  is  never  satisfied  with  mere 
statistics.  He  wants  to  know  not  simply  what  Isaiah  or 
Jeremiah  said;  he  wants  also  to  know  why  they  said  what 
they  did.  If  this  latter  question  can  be  answered,  it  serves 
to  relate  the  utterances  of  a  man  vitally  to  the  religious 
problems  which  he  must  face.  It  reveals  the  fact  that 
theology  arises  just  because  men  ask  searching  questions  and 
demand  profound  answers  to  those  questions. 

The  nature  of  a  vital  theology  today. — This  view  of  doc- 
trine resulting  from  historical  appreciation  should  be  con- 
sistently carried  into  the  realm  of  doctrinal  fornlulation 
today.  If  the  analysis  of  the  experience  of  men  in  biblical 
times  is  the  key  to  the  understanding  of  the  making  of 
biblical  doctrine,  then  the  way  to  formulate  doctrine  for 
our  own  day  is  to  analyze  the  religious  longings  and  experi- 
ences of  the  present.  We,  like  every  generation,  have  in- 
herited doctrines  and  ideals.  But  we  have  our  own  peculiar 
problems  to  face,  and  we  must  use  our  inheritance,  and, 
where  necessary,  modify  it,  so  as  to  meet  these  problems.  In 
so  far  as  the  circumstances  of  our  life  differ  from  those  of 
former  generations  our  beliefs  must  differ.  Sometimes  a  theo- 
logian faces  conditions  essentially  identical  with  those  which 


494        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

prevailed  when  the  inherited  doctrine  was  formulated.  In  such 
a  case  no  striking  changes  take  place.  Sometimes,  as  occurred 
when  Israel  had  to  meet  the  fact  of  national  dissolution,  or  as 
is  the  case  when  we  today  have  to  learn  to  preserve  our  ideals 
in  the  midst  of  the  bewildering  novelties  introduced  by  modern 
learning  and  invention,  the  changes  in  doctrine  will  be  very 
great.  If  the  student  can  come  to  measure  the  validity  of  his 
theologizing,  not  by  its  conformity  to  standards  of  the  past, 
but  by  its  capacity  to  meet  the  questions  of  the  present,  he 
will  be  in  a  position  to  do  fruitful  work.  The  abihty  to  see 
that  this  prophetic  spirit,  which  makes  the  needs  of  the 
present  and  of  the  future  supreme,  is  the  impelling  force  lead- 
ing to  the  construction  of  strong  religious  beliefs  is  one  of 
the  chief  gains  from  the  historical  study  of  the  Bible.  To 
incorporate  this  spirit  into  theological  method  today  is  far 
more  important — and  more  true  to  the  deepest  spiritual 
meaning  of  the  Bible  itself — than  authoritatively  to  repro- 
duce biblical  doctrines  for  our  acceptance. 

Literature. — The  point  of  view  here  advocated  is  set  forth  with  more 
detail  by  G.  B.  Smith,  Social  Idealism  and  the  Changing  Theology  (New 
York:  Macmillan,  1913).  See  also  by  the  same  author  "The  Task  and 
the  Method  of  Systematic  Theology,"  American  Journal  of  Theology,  XIV 
(April,  1910),  215-33,  and  Significant  Movements  in  Modern  Theology,  a 
professional  reading-course  published  by  the  American  Institute  of 
Sacred  Literature,  Chicago,  1915;  Troeltsch,  "The  Dogmatics  of  the 
Religions geschichtliche  Schule,"  American  Journal  of  Theology,  XVII, 
(January,  1913),  1-21.  Very  suggestive  is  Youtz,  The  Enlarging  Con- 
ception of  God  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1 9 14). 

II.      HOW    SHALL   THE   CONTENT   OF   CHRISTIANITY   BE 
DETERMINED  ? 

The  definition  of  Christianity  given  by  the  authority  type 
of  theology. — It  is  only  in  modern  times  that  the  problem  of 
defining  Christianity  has  become  a  really  scientific  problem. 
It  has  been  very  generally  assumed  by  theologians  that  Jesus 
definitely  conceived  and  committed  to  the  apostles  an  author- 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      495 

ized  system  of  doctrine  and  an  authoritative  church  with 
exactly  prescribed  officials  and  practices.  By  ascertaining 
this  original  thought  of  Jesus  as  expounded  by  him  and  by  the 
apostles  one  would  know  precisely  the  content  of  true  Chris- 
tianity. Any  types  of  Christian  thinking  which  diverged  from 
the  alleged  authoritative  type  could  be  disposed  of  as  "here- 
sies." 

Unfortunately  for  the  decisiveness  of  this  method,  heretics 
appealed  in  support  of  their  claims  to  the  same  Scriptures, 
using  the  same  methods  of  interpretation.  The  "true" 
doctrine  had,  in  the  last  analysis,  to  be  upheld  by  ecclesiastical 
coercion.  However,  the  inexact  methods  of  exegesis  in  vogue 
for  centuries  permitted  men  to  feel  that  the  content  of  the 
Christianity  which  they  knew  and  loved  had  been  ascertained 
by  an  appeal  to  the  original  revelation  in  Scripture,  culmi- 
nating in  Jesus. 

The  student  should  be  familiar  with  this  method  of 
defining  Christianity,  for  the  vast  majority  of  Christians  today 
suppose  that  it  is  the  only  defensible  way  in  which  to  find  out 
what  we  are  to  believe.  Moreover,  if  one  adopts  a  different 
method  of  ascertaining  the  content  of  doctrine,  one  will  still 
constantly  be  compelled  to  meet  men  who  cling  to  this  method 
of  appeal  to  authority,  and  who  will  wish  to  debate  on  the 
basis  of  the  method.  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  see 
that  while  in  theory  an  appeal  to  the  teachings  of  Jesus  or  of 
Scripture  ought  to  yield  a  single  "true"  system  of  doctrine, 
as  a  matter  of  fact  such  an  appeal  has  not  prevented  variety 
and  change  in  beliefs.  Far  from  bringing  unity  of  conviction, 
it  has  only  served  to  divide  Christendom  into  mutually  sus- 
picious and  hostile  groups,  each  claiming  exclusive  validity 
for  its  system  of  doctrine.  If  one  allows  himself  to  be  drawn 
into  debate  on  the  basis  of  the  mere  appeal  to  authority,  one 
will  be  fatally  blinded  to  the  actual  history  of  Christianity, 
and  will  consequently  be  incompetent  to  pass  accurate  judg- 
ment on  its  real  nature. 


496        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  Catholic  method  of  determinmg  the  content  of 
Christianity. — The  aim  of  Catholicism  is  so  completely  to 
establish  authoritative  control  as  to  prevent  that  uncertainty 
and  division  of  opinion  which  actually  exist  in  Christendom. 
According  to  Catholic  theory,  Christ  committed  to  the  church 
the  power  to  interpret  correctly  the  content  of  Christianity. 
Statements  of  Scripture  must  mean  what  the  church  says 
they  mean.  Private  judgment  must  bow  before  the  mandates 
of  the  church.  In  this  way  all  differences  of  opinion  may  be 
authoritatively  decided.  The  student  should  familiarize 
himself  with  the  magnificent  completeness  of  this  control  of 
theological  thinking,  and  should  ask  himself  whether  Protes- 
tantism, with  its  insistence  on  the  private  right  of  the  indi- 
vidual to  interpret  Scripture,  can  hope  to  be  a  formidable 
rival  so  long  as  the  appeal  to  authority  is  made  supreme. 

Literature. — The  best  way  in  which  to  know  the  Catholic  position 
is  to  read  the  official  statements  in  the  Canons  and  Decrees  of  the 
Council  of  Trent  and  in  the  Dogmatic  Decrees  of  the  Vatican  Council 
(both  found  in  the  original  and  in  translation  in  Schaff,  Creeds  of  Chris- 
tendom, Vol.  II,  New  York:  Harper,  1878).  Denzinger,  Enchiridion^ 
Syniholorum  et  Dejinitiorum,  etc.,  is  a  standard  presentation  for  those 
who  read  Latin.  WUhelm  and  Scannell,  A  Manual  of  Catholic  Theology, 
an  abridged  translation  of  Scheeben's  Handbuch  der  katholischen  Dog- 
matik  (London:  Kegan  Paul,  Trench,  1898),  is  an  excellent  treatise  in 
English.  Mohler,  Symbolik,  2d  ed.  (Leipzig:  Deichert,  1896;  English 
translation,  Symbolism  [New  York:  Scribner,  1894]),  gives  a  comparative 
study  of  Catholic  and  Protestant  beliefs  from  the  point  of  view  of 
Catholicism.  The  Catholic  Encyclopedia  (New  York:  Rbbert  Applet  on) 
is  a  mine  of  information  concerning  Catholic  opinions  and  positions. 

Protestant  orthodoxy. — The  student  should  realize  that 
the  essential  features  of  Protestant  orthodoxy  are  due  to  the 
inevitable  apologetic  debate  with  Catholicism  during  the 
early  years  of  the  growth  of  the  new  movement.  Theo- 
logically, Protestantism  shared  the  main  presuppositions  of 
the  Catholicism  which  it  opposed.  It  asserted  that  it  was 
restoring  in  primitive  purity  the  Christianity  which  Catholi- 
cism had  corrupted.     By  making  the  Bible  the  sole  authority, 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      497 

Protestant  theologians  felt  that  they  could  authoritatively 
correct  the  errors  of  the  Roman  church.  This  appeal  to  the 
Bible  is  still  supposed  by  most  Protestant  laymen  to  be  the 
true  way  in  which  to  discover  the  content  of  Christian  belief. 

It  is  thus  a  source  of  serious  perplexity  to  Christians 
generally  if  it  is  suggested  that  we  cannot  use  the  Bible  in 
this  formal  way.  The  student  who  is  familiar  with  bibhcal 
criticism  and  who  has  worked  out  a  new  method  of  determining 
the  content  of  his  belief  is  likely  to  forget  the  deep  religious 
loyalty  which  clings  to  the  traditional  attitude  toward  the 
Bible.  We  must  not  make  the  cnistake  of  depreciating  the 
sincerity  and  the  moral  earnestness  which  mark  the  devotion 
of  a  deeply  religious  orthodox  soul.  Such  a  person  puts  wil- 
Hngness  to  obey  the  truth  higher  than  mere  curiosity.  He 
can  make  positive  use  of  the  accumulated  momentum  of 
centuries  of  consecrated  Christian  thinking.  To  understand 
and  appreciate  the  inner  spiritual  power  of  orthodoxy  is  indis- 
pensable if  one  is  to  be  able  to  stand  in  helpful  relations  to  men 
during  a  transition  stage  of  thinking. 

Nevertheless,  the  sudden  disappearance  of  this  type  of 
theology  from  our  foremost  American  divinity  schools  is  a 
striking  fact.  Up  to  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century 
it  was  almost  universally  prevalent.  Today  the  younger 
theologians  nearly  everywhere  are  adopting  new  conceptions  of 
theology.  When  we  recall  how  recently  our  divinity  schools 
have  made  the  change  from  the  method  of  appeal  to  authority 
to  the  method  of  scientific  investigation,  it  is  not  to  be  expected 
that  laymen  generally  should  be  aware  that  there  is  any  legiti- 
mate method  of  discovering  Christian  doctrines  other  than 
that  which  has  prevailed  in  Protestant  orthodoxy.  It  is 
especially  important  during  the  period  of  transition  that 
ministers  should  be  familiar  with  the  older  as  well  as  with  the 
newer  theology,  in  order  to  interpret  the  meaning  of  religion 
to  perplexed  souls.  Particularly  should  one  be  able  to  show 
that  the  change  in  method  is  not  due  to  hostility  to  religion, 


498        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

but  rather  to  the  desire  to  do  more  efhciently  and  accurately 
that  which  orthodoxy  can  no  longer  do  in  the  presence  of 
modern  conditions  of  thought  and  life. 

Literature. — Standard  treatises  representing  the  system  of  Protestant 
orthodoxy  are  Hodge,  Systematic  Theology  (New  York:  Scribner,  1872 
and  1887);  Shedd,  Dogmatic  Theology  (New  York:  Scribner,  1888); 
Strong,  Systematic  Theology  (New  York:  Armstrong,  1898;  enlarged  ed. 
in  3  vols.,  Philadelphia:  Griffith  &  Rowland  Press,  1907).  The 
scholarly  volume.  Biblical  and  Theological  Studies  (New  York:  Scribner, 
191 2),  published  by  members  of  the  faculty  of  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary  on  the  occasion  of  its  hundredth  anniversary,  is  especially 
valuable,  because  in  it  orthodox^  is  expounded  and  defended  against 
modern  liberalism.  F.  H.  Foster,  A  Genetic  History  of  New  England 
Theology  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1907),  gives  a 
detailed  account  of  the  characteristic  American  type  of  orthodoxy. 
McGiffert,  Protestant  Thought  before  Kant  (New  York:  Scribner,  1911), 
furnishes  an  exceptionally  keen  analysis  of  the  characteristics  of  ortho- 
doxy. 

"Liberal"  orthodoxy. — If  the  method  of  appeal  to  authority 
is  strictly  carried  out,  the  theologian  is  not  at  liberty  to 
consult  his  own  moral  or  spiritual  inclinations.  Doctrines 
are  authoritatively  prescribed.  But  in  practice  it  has  never 
been  possible  to  ignore  the  human  element.  In  one  way  or 
another  the  ideals  of  a  theologian  always  find  a  place  in  his 
theology.  The  method  of  authority,  however,  insists  that 
the  validity  of  a  doctrine  is  to  be  found  in  its  biblical  character 
rather  than  in  its  human  appeal. 

If  a  theologian  consciously  attempts  to  raise  human  needs 
and  ideals  to  a  normative  place  in  the  construction  of  doctrine, 
he  becomes  "liberal."  In  proportion  as  he  more  definitely 
admits  the  claims  of  experience  to  a  larger  place  he  becomes 
more  " liberal."  Actually  the  "liberal "  theologian  is  attempt- 
ing nothing  new.  Any  vital  theology  must  be  convincing  to 
men,  and  hence  must  meet  the  demands  of  experimental 
verification.  But  the  "hberal"  consciously  recognizes  that 
experience  has  a  normative  place  in  theologizing,  whereas 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS     499 

the  more  orthodox  man  attempts  to  subject  experience  to  the 
authority  of  the  Bible  or  of  sacred  tradition. 

Liberal  orthodoxy  attempts  to  preserve  both  authoritative 
sanction  and  experimental  testing.  This  involves  many 
difficulties  and  compromises.  Sometimes  the  statements  of 
Scripture  are  so  modernized  as  to  meet  the  demands  of 
present-day  thinking;  sometimes  experience  is  subjected 
to  an  interpretation  which  gives  it  an  essentially  biblical 
aspect.  The  result  is  more  or  less  vagueness  and  uncertainty 
in  exposition.  But  such  vagueness  is  inevitable  in  the  stage 
of  transition  from  one  method  to  the  other.  If  one  remembers 
this  fact,  one  will  find  in  the  mediating  treatises  of  our  day  a 
gratifying  amount  of  insight  into  the  real  religious  problems  of 
our  life  and  many  suggestive  hints  as  to  constructive  doctrines. 

The  appeal  to  Christian  experience. — The  motive  under- 
lying modern  attempts  at  theological  reconstruction  is  the 
desire  to  allow  the  living  experience  of  Christians  today  to  find 
convincing  expression.  Over  a  century  ago  Schleiermacher 
introduced  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  religious  thinking 
by  defining  theology  as  the  interpretation  of  the  experience  ll^/vV 
of  Christian  men.  Since  his  day  this  conception  of  the  task 
has  become  increasingly  dominant. 

But  it  is  easier  to  formulate  the  general  conception  than  to 
work  it  out  in  detail.  Just  what  is  a  Christian  "  experience  "  ? 
How  is  it  derived  ?  What  are  the  philosophical  factors  which 
enter  into  it  ?  In  recent  years  we  have  become  aware  of  the 
social  character  of  any  experience.  How  much  of  the  content 
of  "  Christian  "  doctrine  is  due  to  the  social  Zeitgeist?  Can  we 
trust  "experience"  in  and  of  itself  to  continue  to  be  "Chris- 
tian"? Such  are  some  of  the  questions  which  arise  as  one 
comes  to  look  more  carefully  at  the  implications  of  the  appeal 
to' experience. 

The  theological  expositions  which  are  most  in  favor  at  pres- 
ent are  concerned  to  smooth  the  way  for  a  quiet  modification 
of  orthodox  views  rather  than  to  engage  in  a  thorough-going 


500        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

analysis  of  the  problems  involved.  They  are  likely  to  pre- 
serve the  form  of  an  appeal  to  biblical  authority;  but  the 
content  of  doctrine  is  found  in  those  aspects  of  bibhcal  ideals 
which  are  convincing  to  modern  men.  Thus  the  Bible  is  used 
as  a  suggestive  aid  to  the  discussion  of  modern  questions  rather 
than  as  an  external  authority.  The  way  is  thus  being  pre- 
pared for  a  theological  method  which  shall  start  from  an 
analysis  of  actual  religious  life  rather  than  from  prescribed 
doctrines  found  in  the  Bible.  But  ''liberal  orthodoxy"  does 
not  as  a  rule  see  its  way  clear  to  adopt  a  consistently  empirical 
method.  ^ 

Literature. — Schleiermacher's  Discourses  on  Religion  (translation 
by  Oman  [London:  Kegan  Paul,  Trench,  1893])  should  be  read  by  every 
one  who  desires  to  master  the  problems  of  modern  theology.  His  Der 
christliche  Glaube  has  been  admirably  interpreted  in  paraphrase  by 
Cross,  The  Theology  of  Schleiermacher  (Chicago:  The  University  of 
Chicago  Press,  1911). 

Typical  works  attempting  to  mediate  as  smoothly  as  possible  the 
transition  from  the  method  of  authority  to  that  of  interpreting  Christian 
experience  are  Stearns,  Present  Day  Theology  (New  York:  Scribner, 
1893);  Clarke,  Outlines  of  Christian  Theology  (New  York:  Scrib- 
ner, 1898);  Brown,  Christian  Theology  in  Outline  (New  York:  Scrib- 
ner, 1906)  and  Modern  Theology  and  the  Preaching  of  the  Gospel  (New 
York:   Scribner,  19 14). 

An  especially  stimulating  attempt  to  analyze  experience  and  to 
base  an  evangelical  theology  upon  it  is  well  represented  by  Sabatier, 
Esquisse  d'une  philosophie  de  la  religion  (Pans:  Fischbacher,  1897; 
English  translation.  Outlines  of  a  Philosophy  of  Religion  [New  York: 
Potts,  1902]).  Suggestive  studies  are  found  in  King,  Reconstruction  in 
Theology  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1901),  and  Theology  and  the  Social 
Consciousness  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1902). 

The  Ritschlian  theology. — The  most  important  movement 
in  Christian  thought  during  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century  was  the  development  of  the  Ritschlian  theology.  It 
is  impossible  to  read  modern  theological  discussions  intelli- 
gently without  a  knowledge  of  Ritschlianism.  The  essential 
characteristic  of  this  type  of  theology  is  the  appeal  through 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      501 

experience  to  the  spiritual  authority  of  that  which  produces 
Christian  experience.  Just  what  is  it  that  makes  a  man  a 
"Christian?  Upon  what  does  his  experience  depend  for  its 
existence  ?  If  we  can  answer  this  question  correctly,  we 
shall  be  able  to  relate  our  convictions,  not  simply  to  the  emo- 
tions and  thoughts  which  dominate  us,  but  to  the  objective 
source  of  these  emotions  and  thoughts.  It  is  here  rather  than 
in  mere  subjective  states  of  mind  that  we  are  to  find  the  ulti- 
mate basis  for  our  theology. 

This  conception  of  the  task  of  theology  has  been  of  im- 
mense fruitfulness.  It  has  compelled  theologians  to  pass 
beyond  the  comparatively  simple  task  of  setting  forth  per- 
suasively whatever  convictions  chance  lo  characterize  modern 
Christianity.  It  is  necessary  to  inquire  into  the  genesis  of 
beliefs  and  thus  to  establish  them  on  a  scientific  basis.  A 
Christian  theology,  according  to  the  Ritschhans,  should  limit 
itself  to  those  convictions  which  actually  grow  out  of  the 
^al  relation  of  the  behever  to  the  historical  Jesus.  It  is  thus 
a  description  of  actual  experience,  but  at  the  same  time  it 
finds  the  norm  for  this  experience  in  the  revelation  of  God 
in  Jesus. 

Every  student  should  make  a  careful  study  of  some 
Ritschlian  treatise  on  theology,  for  he  will  here  encounter 
an  exactness  of  critical  analysis  and  a  clearness  of  aim  which 
are  largely  lacking  in  the  less  critical  popular  expositions  of 
current  "liberal"  theology.  To  read  and  digest  such  a  book 
as  Herrmann's  The  Christianas  Communion  with  God  will 
leave  a  lasting  impression  of  the  dignity  and  the  religious 
possibihties  of  keenly  critical  theological  discussion.  The 
Ritschlian  school  has  rendered  great  service  in  revealing 
so  clearly  the  fact  that  scientific  acuteness  may  go  hand  in 
hand  with  religious  zeal.  It  is  true  that  the  particular 
theological  solution  furnished  by  this  school  is  today  being 
generally  abandoned  by  the  younger  generation  of  theo- 
logians;   but  the  method  of  a  radically  critical  examination 


502        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  the  sources  and  the  genesis  of  religious  experience  has 
gained  widespread  approval.  The  religious  power  of  a 
critical  theology  has  been  demonstrated,  and  the  way  has 
been,  opened  for  a  more  confident  use  of  strictly  scientific 
method  in  dealing  with  problems  of  belief. 

Literature. — The  literature  belonging  to  the  Ritschlian  movement 
is  enormous.  The  student  should  consult  the  articles  on  Ritschl  and 
the  Ritschlian  movement  in  such  encyclopedias  as  the  Herzog  Realency- 
clopadie  or  Die  Religion  in  Geschichte  und  Gegenwart  for  bibliographies. 

The  most  important  theological  treatises  are  Ritschl,  Die  christliche 
Lehre  von  der  Rechtfertigung  und  Versohnung,  3d  ed.  (Bonn:  Marcus, 
1889;  English  translation  of  2  vols,  by  Black  and  by  Mackintosh  and 
Macaulay,  The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Justification  and  Reconciliation 
[Edinburgh:  Edmonston,  1872;  Clark,  1900]);  Yitxrmaxm,  Der  Verkehr 
des  Christen  mit  Gott  (Stuttgart:  Cotta,  1889,  4th  ed.,  1906;  English 
translation  by  Stanyon,  The  Christian's  Communion  with  God  [London: 
Williams  &  Norgate,  1895];  English  translation  from  the  4th  German  ed. 
by  Stewart  [London:  Williams  &  Norgate,  1906]);  Kaftan,  Dogmatik 
(Freiburg:  Mohr,  1897,  5th  ed.,  1909);  Harnack,  Das  Wesen  des 
Christentums  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1900;  English  translation  by  Saunders, 
What  Is  Christianity?  [New  York:  Putnam,  1901]);  Haering,  Der 
christliche  Glaube,  2d  ed.  (Calw:  V  ereinsbuchhandlung,  191 2;  English 
translation  by  Dickie  and  Ferries,  The  Christian  Faith  [London:  Hodder 
&  Stoughton,  1913]);  Wendt,  System  der  christlichen  Lehre  (Gottingen: 
Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1906  and  1907);  Lobstein,  Essai  d'une 
introduction  a  la  dogmatique  protestante  (Paris:  Fischbacher,  1896; 
English  translation  by  A.  M.  Smith,  Introduction  to  Protestant  Dog- 
matics [Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1902]). 

Expositions  of  Ritschlianism  by  others  are  far  less  valuable  to  the 
student  than  the  writings  of  the  Ritschlian  theologians.  Good  inter- 
pretations in  English  are  Garvie,  The  Ritschlian  Theology,  (Edinburgh: 
Clark,  1899);  Edgehill,  Faith  and  Fact  (London:  Macmillan,  1910); 
Mozley,  Ritschlianism  (London:  Nisbet,  1909);  Swing,  The  Theology  of 
Albrecht  Ritschl  (New  York:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1901). 

The  modem-positive  school  of  theology. — The  influence 
of  the  Ritschlian  appeal  to  experience  has  been  so  wide- 
spread that  conservative  theologians  are  generally  coming 
to  make  more  confident  use  of  this  appeal.  The  so-called 
modern-positive  school  in   Germany  frankly  abandons   the 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      503 

older  conception  of  deducing  the  content  of  Christianity 
from  an  objective  source  as  such.  It  proposes  to  allow 
religious  experience  freely  to  test  and  interpret  the  content  of 
revelation.  But  the^  representatives  of  this  school  believe 
that  experience  justifies  us  in  retaining  much  more  of  the 
scriptural  content  of  doctrine  than  is  permitted  by  the 
Ritschlian  theology.  It  is  not  the  inner  life  of  Jesus  alone,  but 
the  total  redemptive  history  recorded  in  the  Bible  and  cul- 
minating in  Christ,  which  constitutes  the  basis  of  faith.  Thi^ 
school  thus  approximates  more  closely  to  orthodoxy  in  the 
content  of  theology,  but  in  its  method  of  testing  doctrine 
frankly  adopts  the  empirical  ideal.  It  is  thus  primarily  inter- 
ested in  the  Christianity  of  living  experience  rather  than  in 
the  Christianity  of  a  formally  prescribed  system. 

The  student  should  note  carefully  the  fact  that  here  is  an 
essentially  conservative  type  of  religious  thinking  which  uses 
modern  methods  of  inquiry.  While  the  theologians  of  this 
school  attempt  to  estabhsh  the  finahty  of  the  "essentials"  of 
the  biblical  doctrines,  there  is  nothing  in  the  method  employed 
to  prevent  the  modification  of  any  religious  idea  in  response 
to  the  demands  of  living  faith.  The  influence  of  this  type  of 
theology  is  sure  to  be  very  great  in  popular  thinking  during 
the  next  few  years.  It  commends  itself  to  conservative 
minds  just  because  it  retains  more  of  the  content  of  ortho- 
doxy than  does  Ritschlianism.  At  the  same  time  it  makes 
men  familiar  with  the  open-minded  processes  of  free  inquiry, 
and  thus  leads  to  the  adoption  of  an  undogmatic  attitude 
in  theology.  When  once  confidence  in  the  newer  method  is 
established,  the  unfruitful  polemic  debates  which  are  engen- 
dered by  the  mere  appeal  to  authority  will  become  a  thing  of 
the  past.  Conservative  and  liberal  can  then  work  together 
in  friendly  criticism  for  the  better  understanding  of  our  real 
theological   problems. 

Literature. — The  article  by  Schian,  entitled  "Modern-positiv"  in 
the  encyclopedia  Religion  in  Geschichte  und  Gegenwart,  IV,  418,  gives  an 


504        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

excellent  account  of  the  rise  and  activities  of  the  party  in  Germany.     A 
good  bibliography  is  furnished  here. 

The  most  important  works  for  a  student  to  know  are  Seeberg, 
Die  Grundwahrheiten  der  christlichen  Religion  (Leipzig:  Boehme,  1902, 
5th  ed.,  1910;  English  translation  by  Thomson  and  Wallentin,  The  Fun- 
damental Truths  of  the  Christian  Religion  [New  York:  Putnam,  1908]); 
Seeberg,  Modern-positive  Vortrdge  (Leipzig:  Boehme,  1906)  and  Zur 
systematischen  Theologie  (Leipzig:  Boehme,  1905  and  1909);  Beth, 
Die  Moderne  und  die  Prinzipien  der  Theologie  (Berlin:  Trowitzsch, 
1907). 

The  most  vigorous  English-speaking  advocate  of  this  theological 
position  is  Principal  P.  T.  Forsyth,  whose  Yale  lectures.  Positive  Preach- 
ing and  the  Modern  Mind  (New  York:  Armstrong,  1909),  were  evidently 
inspired  by  the  German  controversy.  Mathews,  The  Gospel  and  the 
Modern  Man  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1910),  reflects  the  general  spirit 
of  this  type  of  theology,  though  he  employs  a  more  historical  method. 
See  also  his  article  "A  Positive  Method  for  an  Evangelical  Theology," 
American  Journal  of  Theology,  XIII  (January,  1909),  1-46. 

Theology  and  idealistic  philosophy. — Another  way  of  at- 
tempting to  modernize  theology  is  to  transform  the  inherited 
doctrines  into  statements  which  gain  their  meaning  from 
modern  philosophy.  It  is  well  known  that  Greek  philosophy 
supplied  the  basis  for  the  doctrines  of  the  ancient  church. 
Should  we  not  render  to  modern  religion  a  similar  service  by 
employing  modern  philosophy? 

During  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  this  was  a 
favorite  undertaking,  and  some  of  the  most  impressive  systems 
of  theology  were  wrought  out  by  this  method.  This  "medi- 
ating" theology  (Vermittlungslheologie)  translated  inherited 
doctrines  into  modern  philosophical  form  with  as  httle  dis- 
turbance to  faith  as  possible.  Old  terms  were  used,  thus 
retaining  the  religious  emotions  associated  with  orthodoxy; 
while  modern  meanings  were  given  to  these  terms,  thus  enlist- 
ing the  intellectual  interest  of  modern  thinkers. 

Great  as  are  the  merits  of  this  attempt,  it  is  exposed  to  two 
serious  objections.  In  the  first  place,  it  operates  with  philo- 
sophical concepts  which  are  out  of  the  reach  of  ordinary  men. 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS    '505 

It  is  thus  in  danger  of  being  too  abstruse  to  have  convincing 
power  among  those  who  are  not  philosophically  inclined.  In 
the  second  place,  those  who  are  critically  able  to  appreciate 
the  use  of  philosophy  are  likely  to  discern  striking  differences 
between  the  content  of  doctrine  set  forth  in  the  traditional 
dogmas  and  that  advocated  by  the  newer  philosophy.  The 
older  theology  depicted  God  as  the  transcendent  Being  who 
governs  the  world  by  decrees,  and  who  acts  through  miracles 
for  the  important  achievements  of  history.  The  newer 
philosophy  conceives  God  as  the  immanent  source  of  cosmic 
evolution,  dynamically  present  in  all  reality.  To  attempt 
to  intermingle  these  two  points  of  view  inevitably  leads  to 
confusion.  The  older  religious  attitude  finds  more  direct 
and  satisfying  expression  in  a  frankly  orthodox  system, 
while  the  newer  attitude  soon  becomes  impatient  of  the 
attempt  to  accommodate  its  meanings  to  a  vocabulary  which 
comes  from  an  alien  source.  Thus  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century  this  type  of  theology  steadily  waned 
in  importance.  It  is  still  a  vigorous  and  optimistic  movement, 
however. 

Literature. — Classic  representatives  of  this  idealistic  theology  are 
Dorner,  System  der  Glaubenslehre  (Berlin:  Hertz,  1878;  English  trans- 
lation by  Cave  and  Banks,  A  System  of  Christian  Doctrine  [Edinburgh : 
Clark,  1880]);  Biedermann,  Christliche  Dogmatik  (Berlin:  Reimer, 
1884);  Pfleiderer,  Grtmdriss  der  christlichen  Glaubens-  und  Sittenlehrc 
(Berlin:  Reimer,  1893). 

Among  writings  in  English  representing  this  theological  attitude 
the  following  are  important  works:  John  Caird,  The  Fundamental  Ideas 
of  Christianity  (Glasgow:  MacLehose,  1904);  Watson,  Christianity 
and  Idealism  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1897)  and  The  Philosophical 
Basis  of  Religion  (Glasgow:  MacLehose,  1907);  Royce,  The  Problem  of 
Christianity  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1913). 

More  popular  expositions  of  Christian  ideals  from  this  point  of  view 
are  found  in  Hyde,  Social  Theology  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1895); 
Gordon,  The  Ultimate  Conceptions  of  Faith  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin 
Co.,  1904);  Jones,  Social  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World  (Philadelphia: 
Winston,  1904). 


5o6        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

An  attempt  to  show  how  the  new  philosophy  may  take  the  place  of 
the  Greek  philosophy  in  modern  theology  is  found  in  a  suggestive  study 
by  Ten  Broeke,  A  Constructive  Basis  for  Theology  (New  York:  Mac- 
millan,  19 14). 

The  definition  of  Christianity  from  the  historical  point  of 
view. — The  historical  study  of  religion  makes  it  clear  that 
the  beliefs  of  any  generation  are  determined  partly  by  the 
ideals  and  maxims  inherited  from  the  preceding  generation 
and  partly  by  the  necessity  for  thinking  through  the  specific 
problems  which  are  occasioned  by  the  actual  exigencies  of 
Hfe.  For  example,  we  recognize  that  the  beliefs  of  any  given 
period  in  the  history  of  Israel  were  due  partly  to  the  social 
inheritance  furnished  by  tradition  and  partly  to  the  original 
thinking  of  the  living  generation.  In  relating  the  theology 
of  the  Old  Testament  to  the  "experience"  of  the  Israelites  we 
also  recognize  that  that  "experience"  was  no  vaguely  subjec- 
tive thing.  It  was  definitely  determined  by  historical  circum- 
stances. So,  too,  New  Testament  scholarship  is  seeking  to 
show  how  the  content  of  the  Christianity  of  the  first  century 
was  due  to  the  specific  historical  conditions  of  religious  think- 
ing and  experience  in  that  age.  Now,  what  is  true  of  the  beliefs 
of  the  Israelites  and  of  the  early  Christians  is  equally  true  of 
those  of  all  generations.  Every  age  has  its  own  "Chris- 
tianity," the  specific  traits  of  which  are  due  to  the  working 
over  of  inherited  beliefs  under  the  pressure  of  new  problems. 
Just  as  we  recognize  Jewish  Christianity  and  gentile  Chris- 
tianity in  the  New  Testament,  so  we  recognize  Nicene  Chris- 
tianity, Augustinian  Christianity,  Lutheran  Christianity, 
Pietistic  Christianity,  Modernist  Christianity,  and  many 
other  typical  forms.  There  is  no  one  fixed  authoritative  type. 
Christianity  is  always  in  the  making.  Each  generation 
inherits  certain  behefs;  but  these  beliefs  are  brought  into 
relation  with  new  conditions,  and  are  subjected  to  criticism 
and  reconstruction.  If  the  historical  conditions  of  life  are 
not  essentially  different  from  those  which  prevailed  when  the 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      507 

inherited  doctrines  were  formulated,  little  or  no  modifica- 
tion is  needed.  If,  as  is  the  case  with  us  today,  the  living 
generation  is  facing  a  host  of  new  problems,  the  changes 
in  theology  will  be  much  more  radical.  "Experience"  is 
indeed  the  source  of  doctrines;  but  experience  changes  with 
the  changing  conditions  of  life. 

The  value  of  this  historical  understanding  of  the  nature 
of  Christianity  is  very  great.  It  at  once  relieves  the  student 
of  the  formaHty  of  trying  to  express  his  convictions  in  any 
stereotyped  way.  Moreover,  it  provides  a  definite  "objec- 
tive" basis  for  theologizing.  The  great  defect  of  many  "lib- 
eral" theologies  is  their  failure  to  give  an  objective  basis  for 
the  "experience"  to  which  they  appeal.  The  historical 
point  of  view  corrects  this  defect,  and  thus  takes  away  the 
main  adverse  criticism  of  liberalism.  Orthodoxy  is  strong 
because  of  its  appreciation  of  the  necessity  for  an  olDJective 
control  of  experience;  but  it  is  weak  because  oTits  inability  to 
appreciate  the  positive  significance  of  modern  life.  Liberal- 
ism is  strong  by  virtue  of  its  emphasis  on  the  right  of  living 
faith  to  determine  its  own  content;  but  it  is  often  weak  in 
failing  to  show  the  value  of  objective  control.  The  historical  I 
method  of  interpreting  Christianity  has  the  strength  of  both 
these  positions  without  their  weaknesses.  If  we  conceive 
Christianity  to  be  the  living  movement  in  which  every. ''''^ 
generation  is  reworking  its  inherited  beliefs  into  forms 
more  potent  to  inspire  and  direct  living  men,  the  task  of 
the  theologian  becomes  clear.  He  is  to  appreciate  the 
inherited  beliefs  in  relation  to  the  conditions  which  pro- 
duced them,  and  thus  to  feel  the  spiritual  power  of  the  Chris- 
tianity which  found  expression  in  these  beliefs.  He  is  then 
to  analyze  the  problems  which  confront  Christians  today,  and 
is  to  derive  from  this  analysis  an  understanding  of  the  best 
way  in  which  the  inheritance  from  the  past  may  be  trans- 
formed into  a  theology  which  shall  enable  men  to  live  positively 
and  to  transmit  to  the  next  generation  the  inspiration  of  a 


.UiJ-'- 


5o8        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

dynamic  faith.  Our  beliefs  are  thus  rooted  in  a  vital  relation 
to  the  past,  but  they  receive  adequate  interpretation  only  as 
they  are  related  to  the  needs  of  the  present. 

Literature. — The  full  force  of  the  historical  point  of  view  is  only- 
beginning  to  be  felt.  Most  definitions  of  Christianity  still  seek  some 
non-historical  "essence"  which  shall  not  be  subject  to  the  vicissitudes 
of  historical  change.  An  excellent  survey  of  such  attempts  at  definition 
is  given  in  Brown,  The  Essence  of  Christianity  (New  York:  Scribner, 
1902). 

The  contentions  of  the  Catholic  modernists  are  of  great  value  to 
Protestant  students  who  have  been  accustomed  to  depreciate  the  value 
of  history.  See  especially  The  Programme  of  Modernism  (New  York: 
Putnam,  1908),  and  Loisy,  The  Gospel  and  the  Church  (New  York: 
Scribner,  191 2). 

One  of  the  clearest  and  best  discussions  of  the  developmental  char- 
acter of  Christianity  is  given  by  Case,  The  Evolution  of  Early  Christianity, 
chap,  i  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1914)-  See  also 
Pfleiderer,  Evolution  and  Theology  (London:  Black,  1900);  Troeltsch, 
"Was  heisst  Wesen  des  Christentums  ? "  in  Die  Christliche  Welt,  1903, 
cols.  443  fif.;  and  Die  Absolutheit  des  Christentums  und  die  Religions- 
geschichte  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1902;   2d  ed.,  1912). 

Outlines  of  a  theological  method  based  on  this  historical  point  of 
view  are  given  by  Troeltsch,  "The  Dogmatics  of  the  Religions geschicht- 
liche  Schule,"  American  Journal  of  Theology,  X.YU  (January,  1913),  1-21; 
and  G.  B.  Smith,  "The  Task  and  Method  of  Systematic  Theology," 
American  Journal  of  Theology,  XIV  (April,  1910),  215-33;  see  also 
G.  B.  Smith,  Social  Idealism  and  the  Changing  Theology  (New  York: 
'Macmillan,  1913);  Johnson,  God  in  Evolution,  chap,  ii  (New  York: 
Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1911). 

III.      THE   MAIN  DOCTRINAL  PROBLEMS 

What  is  the  meanmg  of  religion?— For  the  type  of  theology 
which  finds  the  content  of  doctrine  in  an  authorized  system 
the  primary  question  must  be  as  to  the  validity  of  this 
authority.  Thus  the  authenticity  of  Scripture  must  be 
established  by  orthodox  theology  before  one  is  scientifically 
justified  in  deriving  doctrines  from  Scripture.  If,  however, 
we  regard  doctrines  as  the  creations  of  religious  thmking  for 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      509 

the  purpose  of  interpreting  religious  experience,  the  first  task  of 
the  theologian  must  be  to  inquire  concerning  the  nature  of 
religious  experience.  This  approach  to  the  study  of  theology 
was  initiated  over  a  century  ago  by  Schleiermacher,  whose 
famous  Discourses  on  Religion  are  today  as  stimulating  and 
suggestive  as  anything  which  one  may  read  on  the  subject  of 
religion. 

The  student  of  modern  theology  should  reahze  that  his 
primary  task  is  to  understand  the  vital  nature  and  function  of 
religion.  If  interest  is  once  aroused  in  this  direct  subject- 
matter,  many  of  the  formal  topics  of  theological  controversy — 
such  as  discussions  concerning  the  exact  location  of  "author- 
ity"— cease  to  be  of  importance.  One  is  thus  free  to  address 
himself  to  the  immediate  problems  of  our  real  religious  life. 

Fortunately  the  student  of  theology  today  may  avail  him- 
self of  numerous  admirable  studies  of  the  nature  and  function 
of  religion.  It  is  true  that  these  investigations  are  usually 
made  in  the  realm  of  non-Christian  religions,  for  it  has  been 
possible  to  employ  the  methods  of  scientific  inquiry  here  with- 
out encountering  theological  prejudice.  There  is  at  all  events  a 
certain  advantage  in  looking  at  the  field  of  religion  objectively 
in  realms  where  personal  emotion  does  not  play  so  large  a 
part.  When  one  has  learned  to  appreciate  the  significance 
of  historical  evolution  in  the  case  of  other  religions,  one  will 
have  received  a  training  which  is  invaluable  in  overcoming  the 
dogmatic  attitude  in  the  case  of  Christianity. 

The  study  of  the  nature  of  rehgion  should  by  all  means 
include  the  reading  of  the  utterances  of  religious  souls  in  the 
form  of  prayers,  meditations,  appeals  to  God,  exhortations  to 
men,  and  the  like.  No  reading  of  a  second-hand  account  of  a 
religion  can  furnish  the  direct  impression  of  its  power  which 
comes  from  the  original  utterances  of  a  devout  soul.  Such  a 
book  as  James's  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience  shows  a 
method  by  which  one  may  recover  the  inner  meaning  of 
religion.     If  one  comes  to  appreciate  the  intense  reality  of 


5IO        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

such  aspirations  and  struggles  as  find  expression  in  utterances 
of  personal  religious  conviction,  one  will  be  preserved  from 
the  mistake  of  attempting  to  deal  with  doctrines  in  an  external, 
formal  fashion. 

Literature. — ^Toy,  Introduction  to  the  History  of  Religions  (Boston: 
Ginn  &  Co.,  1913),  gives  nearly  forty  pages  of  comprehensive  bibliog- 
raphy. Schleiermacher,  Reden  fiber  die  Religion  (published  first  in  1799; 
English  translation  by  Oman,  On  Religion  [London:  Kegan  Paul,  1893]), 
is  a  classic  which  every  student  should  know. 

Of  recent  works  the  following  are  especially  suggestive:  Tiele, 
Elements  of  the  Science  of  Religion  (New  York:  Scribner,  1899);  James-, 
The  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience  (New  York:  Longmans,  Green, 
&  Co.,  1902);  Bousset,  Das  Wesen  der  Religion  (Tubingen:  Mohr, 
1906;  English  translation  by  Low,  What  Is  Religion?  [New  York: 
Putnam,  1907]);  'Hoiidmg,  Philosophy  of  Religion  (L^''^^^'^'-  Macmillan, 
1906);  Eucken,  Der  Wahrheitsgehalt  der  Religion  (Leipzig:  Veit,  1901; 
English  translation  by  Jones,  The  Truth  of  Religion  [New  York:  Putnam, 
191 1]);  Ames,  The  Psychology  of  Religious  Experience  (Boston:  Hough- 
ton Mifflin  Co.,  1910);  King,  The  Development  of  Religion  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1910);  Hocking,  The  Meaning  of  God  in  Human  Experience 
(New  Haven:  Yale  University  Press,  191 2). 

^  Religion  as  a  problem  of  cosmic  adjustment. — Religion 
is  an  experience  of  vital  unity  with  the  great  forces  in  environ- 
ment upon  which  life  is  ultimately  dependent.  It  brings 
the  most  significant  enlargement  of  experience.  It  is  this 
enrichment  of  life  which  is  important.  Doctrines  and  rituals 
are  means  to  this  end.  The  doctrines  of  religion  vary  with 
varying  conceptions  of  the  nature  of  our  environment. 
Where  animism  prevails,  religion  will  take  the  form  of  propi- 
tiating a  host  of  spirits.  Where  environment  is  philo- 
sophically conceived,  rehgion  takes  the  form  of  a  mystic 
understanding  of  the  significance  of  one's  unity  with  the 
ultimate  reality. 

To  feel  the  wonder  and.  the  mystery  of  this  experience  of 
cosmic  adjustment  is  essential  if  one  is  to  interpret  religion 
aright.  When  theology  becomes  exclusively  devoted  to  doc- 
trines as  such,  it  becomes  dry  and  formal.     Doctrines  must 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      511 

always  be  viewed  as  means  of  interpreting  the  attempt  of 
man  to  find  a  sense  of  vital  unity  between  his  life  and  the 
power  which  works  unseen  in  the  world  upon  which  man 
is  dependent.  Let  the  student  always  remember  that  the 
real  test  of  value  in  a  theology  is  not  so  much  its  logical 
completeness,  or  its  philosophical  consistency,  as  its  ability 
to  furnish  ideas  and  interpretations  which  enable  men  to 
realize  the  experience  of  satisfactory  adjustment  to  the  cosmic 
reality  on  which  they  are  dependent. 

Now,  men  cannot  employ  in  their  religious  quest  cosmic 
ideas  which  are  scientifically  absurd.  When  one  has  come 
to  abandon  animism,  a  theology  which  proclaims  the  necessity 
of  dealing  with  spirits  and  devils  is  impossible.  The  theology 
of  the  Bible  employs  some  cosmic  ideas  which  we  today  have 
outgrown.  To  continue  to  embody  these  ideas  in  a  modern 
theology  means  to  make  such  a  theology  useless  for  the  reli- 
gious life  of  all  who  do  not  hold  a  pre-scientific  conception  of 
the  world.  The  student  must  seek  to  express  the  vital  rela- 
tions of  religious  experience  in  such  a  way  as  to  enable  men  to 
pursue  the  religious  quest  in  the  environment  which  is  real  to 
them.  For  example,  before  entering  upon  a  discussion  of  the 
problem  of  miracles,  one  should  ask  whether  the  idea  of  mir- 
acle is  one  which  we  actually  employ  in  our  thought  of  the 
activities  of  the  universe.  If  we  cannot  invoke  the  aid  of 
miracles  today,  modern  religion  will  ignore  miracles  and  will 
lay  primary  stress  on  those  aspects  of  cosmic  reality  which 
are  active  factors  in  our  life.  The  student  should  constantly 
remember  that  the  purpose  of  theology  is  not  to  discuss 
scholastic  questions — and  any  question  which  has  no  immedi- 
ate relation  to  our  life-problems  is  scholastic — but  rather  to 
furnish  conceptions  which  are  helpful  in  establishing  vital 
relations  with  the  unseen  forces  of  the  universe.  Doctrines 
which  do  not  furnish  this  help  are  worse  than  useless;  they  are 
burdens  which  hamper  and  discourage  men.  A  modern 
theology  must  face  the  problem  of  finding  a  rightful  home  for 


512         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  spiritual  aspirations  of  the  soul  in  the  universe  which  we 
moderns  know. 

Literature. — Schleiermacher's  Discourses  on  Religion,  already  men- 
tioned in  other  connections,  is  a  classic  expression  of  modern  religious 
aspirations.  Hocking,  The  Meaning  of  God  in  Human  Experience 
(New  Haven:  Yale  University  Press,  19 12),  is  especially  suggestive  on 
this  aspect  of  religion. 

Other  good  discussions  are  Herrmann,  Die  Religion  im  Verhdltniss 
sum  Welterkennen  und  zur  Sittlichkeit  (Halle:  Niemeyer,  1879);  Eucken, 
Der  Wahrheitsgehalt  der  Religion  (Leipzig:  Veit,  1901;  English  trans- 
lation by  Jones,  The  Truth  of  Religion  [New  York:  Putnam,  191 1]); 
Foster,  The  Function  of  Religion  in  Man^s  Struggle  for  Existence  (Chicago: 
The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909).  A  suggestive  analysis  is  given 
by  Watson,  "The  Logic  of  Religion,"  American  Journal  of  Theology, 
XX  (January  and  April,  1916),  81-101  and  244-65. 

The  social  and  ethical  significance  of  religion. — If  cosmic 
forces  are  believed  to  be  capricious,  religion  will  be  full  of  fear 
and  superstition.  If  these  cosmic  forces  can  be  believed  to  be 
subject  to  an  ethical  purpose,  religion  itself  becomes  ethical 
in  content.  This  ethical  emphasis  is  one  of  the  striking 
characteristics  of  Christianity.  If  we  can  feel  assured  that 
the  social  and  ethical  values  which  we  most  prize  in  our  earthly 
life  are  sustained  by  the  cosmic  order,  we  have  a  religion  which 
is  ethically  satisfactory. 

Christian  theology  has  been  conspicuously  successful  in 
harmonizing  the  ethical  and  the  cosmic  aspects  of  spiritual 
life.  Indeed,  so  completely  has  it  laid  emphasis  on  moral 
conceptions  that  it  is  constantly  in  danger  of  being  conceived 
solely  in  terms  of  ethics.  Important  as  is  this  moral  emphasis, 
the  student  should  not  forget  the  fundamental  problem  of  our 
cosmic  welfare.  Religion  brings  to  the  moral  endeavors  of 
man  the  reinforcement  of  a  cosmic  faith.  Christianity  insists 
on  both  the  cosmic  and  the  ethical  aspects  of  religious  experi- 
ence. The  unfortunate  consequence  of  allowing  either  of 
these  elements  to  be  sacrificed  may  be  observed  in  Hinduisrh, 
where  social  aspirations  have  been  eliminated  by  a  highly 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      513 

mystical  type  of  religious  speculation,  and  in  Confucianism, 
where  ethics  has  found  no  adequate  cosmic  support,  and  hence 
has  been  supplemented  by  superstitions  with  a  cosmic  appeal. 
The  task  of  Christian  theology  is  to  bring  out  the  implica- 
tions of  its  unified  cosmic-ethical  ideals. 

Literature. — Kant  is  the  classic  exponent  of  the  religion  of  pure 
morality.  His  Religion  innerhalb  der  Grenzen  der  blossen  Vernunft  trans- 
lated Christianity  into  ethics.  The  Ritschlian  school  of  theologians  has 
followed  Kant  in  this  emphasis,  but  has  stressed  the  need  of  redemption 
from  our  moral  defects.  Recent  interpretations  of  religion  almost 
exclusively  in  terms  of  moral  and  social  values  are  given  by  Hoffding, 
Philosophy  of  Religion  (London:  Macmillan,  1906);  Ames,  The  Psy- 
chology of  Religious  Experience  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1910); 
and  King,  The  Development  of  Religion  (New  York:    Macmillan,  1910). 

The  Christian  doctrine  of  God. — Christian  theology  has 
summed  up  the  content  of  religious  faith  in  its  doctrine  that 
man's  fate  in  the  universe  is  in  the  control  of  a  morally  perfect 
God,  who  shapes  events  according  to  the  demands  of  absolute 
righteousness.  Thus  one's  happy  adjustment  to  the  forces 
of  the  universe  involves  moral  fidelity;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
one's  moral  efforts  have  cosmic  significance. 

The  new  cosmic  consciousness. — ^The  doctrine  of  God 
has  been  traditionally  expressed  in  terms  derived  from  a  con- 
ception of  the  universe  which  modern  science  has  modified. 
God  was  thought  of  as  a  transcendent  sovereign,  whose 
"decrees"  must  be  obeyed  by  all  nature.  These  decrees  took 
the  form  of  "laws"  of  nature,  which  might  at  any  time  be 
"suspended"  if  the  purposes  of  the  sovereign  demanded  a 
miracle.  Man's  religious  history  depended  upon  a  series 
of  "dispensations,"  the  last  and  highest  of  which  was  intro- 
duced by  Christ.  "Special  providences"  might  be  expected 
in  human  experience.  It  was  believed  that  this  world  is 
eventually  to  be  brought  to  a  sudden  end  by  a  cosmic  catas- 
trophe deliberately  brought  about  by  the  divine  will.  God 
was  thus  pictured  in  anthropomorphic  terms,  and  his  relation 


514        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

to  the  world  and  to  man  was  represented  as  a  matter  deter- 
mined only  by  his  sovereign  will. 

Today  we  face  a  universe  of  unimaginable  extent  in  space 
and  in  time.  We  explain  its  structure  and  its  behavior  in 
terms  of  immanent  forces  rather  than  by  reference  to  an 
anthropomorphic  will.  No  longer  do  we  seek  the  aid  of 
personal  cosmic  spirits  in  practical  life.  Exorcism,  which  was 
so  prominent  a  function  of  early  Christian  activity,  no  longer 
exists  among  us.  Science  is  everywhere  using  impersonal 
ideas  in  explaining  the  universe.  The  anthropomorphism 
of  former  days  is  inapplicable  to  our  present  situation. 
In  response  to  this  new  cosmic  consciousness  many  of  the 
former  characteristics  of  the  doctrine  of  God  have  vanished 
or  have  been  radically  modified.  The  Calvinistic  doctrine  of 
"decrees"  is  becoming  a  theological  curiosity.  The  idea 
of  "creation"  has  been  merged  into  the  vaguer  conception  of 
evolution,  where  the  exact  extent  of  the  divine  activity  is 
uncertain.  Miracles  are  now  "problems"  rather  than  un- 
doubted realities.  The  conception  of  God  is  thus  imdergoing 
a  reconstruction,  in  response  to  the  pressure  of  the  new  cosmic 
ideas.  In  this  reconstruction  men  are  likely  to  become  be- 
wildered. It  will  be  helpful  if  the  student  can  keep  in  mind 
one  or  two  significant  aspects  of  the  theological  problem  which 
deserve  especial  mention. 

The  religious  problem  distinguished  from  the  metaphysical 
problem. — It  is  confusing  to  find  the  word  "  God"  employed  in 
two  very  different  senses.  It  is  used  by  philosophers  to  indi- 
cate the  metaphysical  ultimate,  and  it  is  used  by  religious  men 
to  signify  the  spiritual  life  with  which  man  may  have  personal 
communion.]  The  history  of  religion  shows  that  the  gods  of 
religious  faith  are  not  necessarily  identical  with  the  cosmic 
ultimate.  Indeed,  it  is  quite  possible  to  have  a  religion  in 
which  the  object  of  worship  is  a  spirit  working  within  the 
cosmos  somewhat  as  man  works  within  it.  Practical  religion 
demands  a  God  who  will  actually  help  man  in  his  life.     God 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      515 

must  be  "good"  in  the  sense  that  he  takes  sides  against  the 
evil  in  the  world.  Now,  philosophy  is  concerned  to  discover 
a  metaphysical  ultimate  which  will  include  iii  its  higher  unity 
all  the  disparate  aspects  of  the  world.  The  "God"  of  the 
philosopher  must  include  all  aspects  of  reality,  both  what 
we  call  good  and  what  we  call  bad.  This  metaphysical 
ultimate  thus  becomes  too  remote  to  be  "touched  with  the 
feeHng  of  our  infirmities."  The  problem  of  evil  is  solved  by 
showing  a  metaphysical  way  of  transmuting  supposed  evil 
into  actual  good.  But  practical  religion  longs  for  a  God  who 
will  take  sides  against  evil  and  insure  the  victory  of  the  good. 

In  the  interests  of  practical  religion  much  recent  theology 
has  attempted  to  push  the  metaphysical  problem  into  the 
background.  The  Ritschhan  theology  insisted  on  banishing 
all  metaphysics  from  religious  doctrine  just  because  of  the 
colorless  character  of  the  "God"  of  philosophical  speculation. 
Professor  James,  with  his  keen  sensitiveness  to  the  practical 
exigencies  of  life,  suggested  a  "plurahstic  universe,"  in 
which  God  should  be  conceived  as  a  particular  being  alongside 
of  other  beings.  On  the  other  hand,  men  like  Professor  Royce 
attempt  to  introduce  into  the  conception  of  the  philosophical 
Absolute  a  real  sympathy  with  finite  occurrences.  These 
movements  are  indications  of  the  practical  emphasis  of 
religion,  and  their  significance  should  be  appreciated  by  the 
Christian  theologian. 

Some  questions  concerning  the  nature  of  God. — The 
construction  of  a  doctrine  of  God  should  always  be  guided 
by  the  religious  interest.  Religion  is  concerned  to  affirm 
the  possibility  of  a  vital  spiritual  relationship  in  which  the 
soul  of  man  feels  that  it  has  a  rightful  home  in  the  universe. 
The  traditional  doctrines  concerning  God  should  be  critically 
examined,  first,  in  order  to  see  how  they  grew  up  in  response 
to  the  demand  for  a  vehicle  of  thought  adequate  to  interpret 
the  full  significance  of  religious  experience,  and,  secondly,  in 
order  to  ask  whether  these  doctrines  are  still  capable  of 


5i6        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

promoting  our  worship.  These  practical  inquiries  will  pre- 
vent one  from  going  astray  into  fields  of  metaphysical  specu- 
lation which  are  religiously  barren.  For  example,  instead 
of  regarding  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  as  a  theological- 
metaphysical  puzzle  to  be  solved  by  some  sort  of  acute  logic, 
the  student  should  ask  what  function  the  doctrine  served 
in  the  religious  faith  of  the  age  in  which  it  was  wrought 
out.  What  were  the  problems  of  that  time  which  led  men  to 
feel  such  concern  over  the  matter  ?  A  study  of  the  doctrine  in 
this  historical  fashion  will  disclose  certain  presuppositions  and 
certain  religious  ideas  of  the  third  century  which  demanded 
the  discussion  of  the  nature  of  God  in  terms  of  "essence." 
But  do  our  presuppositions  today  and  our  religious  problems 
lead  us  to  be  interested  in  the  definition  of  the  divine  "es- 
sence"? Only  after  this  has  been  determined  can  we  know 
the  significance  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  for  modern 
faith.  Most  polemic  discussions  of  today  are  theologically 
useless  just  because  they  do  not  raise  this  fundamental  ques- 
tion. 

In  particular,  the  student  should  remember  that  our 
inherited  doctrine  of  God  was  formulated  under  the  influ- 
ence of  political  ideas  which  have  been  modified  in  important 
ways  in  modern  times.  The  phrase  "the  sovereignty  of 
God"  harks  back  to  the  days  of  belief  in  the  divine  right 
of  kings.  But  today  we  believe  in  a  democratic  form  of 
government  which  allows  citizens  to  call  rulers  to  account. 
If  criticism  is  a  valuable  moral  asset  in  our  political  life,  can 
we  exclude  it  from  religious  thinking  ?  May  we  not  demand 
that  God  shall  be  required  to  receive  the  moral  approval  of 
men  ?  This  spirit  of  democracy  with  its  insistence  on  the 
rights  of  men  is  responsible  for  the  current  protests  against 
such  ideas  as  that  God  has  a  right  to  elect  some  to  salvation 
and  to  pass  others  by;  or  that  he  has  a  right  to  insist  on  some 
rigid  "plan  of  salvation"  purely  because  he  has  chosen  this 
rather  than  any  other  plan;   or  that  he  forbids  men  to  apply 


SYSTEMATIC  'i;HEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      517 

critical  tests  to  the  Bible.  Men  who  believe  in  democracy 
insist  on  worshiping  a  God  whose  excellence  is  to  be  found,  not 
in  an  aristocratic  "  sovereignty,"  but  rather  in  a  self-sacrificing 
identification  of  himself  with  his  children  in  their  endeavors 
after  righteousness.  The  '' immanence"  of  God  is  thus  a 
leading  conception  of  modern  theology.  But  religiously 
this  immanence  does  not  mean  mere  essential  pantheism — 
this  would  be  a  metaphysical  rather  than  a  religious  con- 
ception. It  means  rather  the  thought  of  God  as  the  untiring 
co-worker  with  men,  always  dynamically  present  in  their 
spiritual  endeavors. 

It  is  evident  that  the  language  of  traditional  theology, 
taken,  as  it  is,  largely  from  a  political  philosophy  which  we 
have  outgrown,  is  not  suitable  to  bring  out  the  full  meaning  of 
modern  religious  faith.  The  constructive  work  of  theology 
must  be  in  the  direction  of  discovering  ideas  which  will  rein- 
force our  actual  religious  experience  in  a  democratic  world. 
This  problem,  unfortunately,  has  not  yet  been  generally  grasped 
by  theologians.  Most  current  discussions,  recognizing*  that 
there  are  difficulties  in  the  way  of  holding  the  older  conception 
of  God,  seek  to  meet  these  difficulties  by  resorting  to  modern 
philosophy  as  an  aid  to  reconstruction.  Theology  thus  is 
diverted  into  a  consideration  of  the  metaphysical  rather 
than  the  religious  problem.  Only  a  persistent  determina- 
tion to  base  critical  reconstruction  on  the  actual  demands 
of  religious  faith  can  give  the  insight  which  is  needed  for  the 
construction  of  a  theology  as  contrasted  with  a  philosophy  of 
religion.  The  latter  is  essential;  but  it  cannot  serve  as  the 
working  faith  of  a  worshiping  community. 

Moreover,  in  so  far  as  the  doctrine  of  God  has  been  philo- 
sophically interpreted,  it  has  embodied  the -metaphysics  of  the 
ancient  Greek  world.  But  modern  philosophy  has  engaged 
in  radical  criticism  of  this  metaphysics.  Whereas  Platonism 
sought  to  define  God  so  as  to  remove  him  completely  from 
the  changes  and  accidents  of  our  finite  world,  thus  making 


5i8        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

transcendence  of  primary  importance,  modern  philosophy  is 
employing  dynamic  and  evolutionary  conceptions,  thus 
involving  God  in  the  movement  of  the  universe.  Thus  the 
influence  of  philosophy  as  well  as  that  of  political  thinking 
leads  away  from  the  fundamental  categories  of  the  older  con- 
ception of  God. 

A  vital  faith  during  theological  reconstruction. — If  the 
criticism  of  traditional  theology  is  inspired  by  the  desire  to 
make  doctrine  more  directly  and  efficiently  serviceable  in 
the  promotion  of  the  religious  life,  the  process  of  criticism 
itself  comes  to  have  a  religious  meaning.  Even  if  one  has 
not  yet  found  an  adequate  conception  of  God,  one  can  feel 
the  enrichment  of  life  which  comes  from  living  and  thinking 
and  aspiring  in  relation  to  the  worshipful  aspects  of  environ- 
ment. Faith  may  thus  actually  flourish  during  a  period  of 
intellectual  doubt  and  questioning.  By  relating  doctrines 
to  the  religious  needs  of  men  one  centers  attention  on  the 
primary  reality  of  the  quest  of  men  after  God.  So  long  as 
this  quest  is  real  and  earnest,  one's  discussion  of  theology 
will  always  be  vital  and  will  always  serve  as  a  practical  basis 
for  prayer  and  for  faith,  whether  one  has  reached  satisfactory 
doctrinal  statements  or  not.  Perhaps  no  greater  servige 
could  be  rendered  today  than  to  persuade  men  of  the  positive 
significance  of  a  questioning  faith.  It  may  be  religiously  more 
fruitful  than  the  kind  of  faith  which  believes  itself  to  be  in 
possession  of  final  doctrines.  Such  a  faith  is  contributing 
to  the  better  doctrines  of  the  future. 

Literature. — For  the  historical  development  of  the  Christian  doctrine 
of  God  see  Gwatkin,  The  Knowledge  of  God  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1906). 
For  readable  presentations  of  a  conception  which  preserves  the  Chris- 
tian ideal  in  the  light  gi  modern  ideas  see  Clarke,  The  Christian  Doctrine 
of  God  (New  York:  Scribner,  1909) ;  Harris,  God,  the  Lord  and  Creator  of 
All  (New  York:  Scribner,  1897);  and  Clarke,  Can  I  Believe  in  God  the 
Father?  (New  York:    Scribner,  1899). 

The  critical  and  philosophical  problems  involved  in  the  doctrine  are 
well  treated  in  Hocking,  The  Meaning  of  God  in  Human  Experience  (New 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      519 

Haven:  Yale  University  Press,  1912);  Royce  and  Howison,  The  Con- 
ception of  God  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1897);  and  Wobbermin,  Der 
christliche  Gottesglaube  in  seinem  Verhdltniss  zur  heutigen  Philosophic  und 
Naturwissenschaft,  2d  ed.  (Berlin:   Duncker,  1907). 

Adverse  criticisms  of  the  traditional  identification  of  God  with  the 
metaphysical  Absolute  are  found  in  McTaggart,  Some  Dogmas  of  Religion 
(London:  Arnold,  1906);  James,  Pragmatism  (New  York:  Longmans, 
Green,  &  Co.,  1907),  and  A  Pluralistic  Universe  (New  York:  Long- 
mans, Green,  &  Co.,  1909);  and  Johnson,  God  in  Evolution  (New  York: 
Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  191 1). 

Suggestive  accounts  of  the  reasons  why  the  traditional  doctrine  of 
God  needs  revision  are  found  in  McGiffert,  The  Rise  of  Modern  Religious 
Ideas,  chaps,  x-xii  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1915),  and  G.  B.  Foster, 
The  Function  of  Religion  in  the  Struggle  for  Existence  (Chicago:  The 
University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909).  Ten  Broeke  in  the  latter  portion 
of  A  Constructive  Basis  for  Theology  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1914)  shows 
what  a  fruitful  use  of  modern  philosophy  may  be  made  by  the  theologian. 

What  do  we  mean  by  salvation? — The  need  of  keeping 
actual  religious  experience  and  its  demands  constantly  in 
mind  becomes  especially  evident  in  treating  the  doctrine  of 
salvation.  If  one  begins  with  an  a  priori  conception  of  the 
"plan  of  salvation,"  one  is  certain  to  find  one's  self  dealing 
with  abstractions.  The  traditional  soteriology  presupposed 
the  historicity  of  Adam's  fall  and  started  from  the  assumption 
that  mankind  needs  to  be  saved  primarily  from  the  taint 
inherited  from  Adam.  But  modern  anthropology  has  dis- 
credited this  way  of  determining  the  nature  of  man  and  of 
sin.  Moreover,  the  traditional  doctrine  of  atonement  em- 
bodied conceptions  of  penalty  and  of  sati^action  which  are 
being  abandoned  in  modern  criminology  and  penology.  We 
cannot  attribute  to  God  a  method  of  dealing  with  delinquency 
which  would  be  condemned  if  practiced  in  our  courts  of 
justice.  For  example,  to  insist  dogmatically,  as  an  a  priori 
principle,  that  "without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no 
remission  of  sin"  is  both  foolish  and  futile  in  an  age  which  has 
abandoned  the  conception  of  bloody  sacrifice,  and  which  is 
loudly  demanding  the  abolition  of  capital  punishment.     To 


520        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

talk  emotionally  about  ''sin"  in  the  abstract  without  any 
adequate  psychological  analysis  of  moral  consciousness  means 
to  encourage  artificiality  in  religion.  The  student  must,  if 
he  is  to  work  out  in  this  realm  convictions  with  moral  power, 
rigidly  compel  himself  to  abandon  the  method  of  mere 
rhetorical  exposition  of  traditional  ideas,  adopting  instead  the 
method  of  honestly  asking  what  the  evils  of  our  life  are  and 
how  we  may  hope  for  deliverance  from  their  bondage. 

The  need  of  a  broader  conception  of  salvation. — Men 
need  to  be  saved  from  mental  perplexity  and  despair  as  truly 
as  they  need  to  be  saved  from  sin.  Many  pastors  and  teachers 
deal  with  doubt  as  if  it  necessarily  involved  moral  delinquency. 
Fortunately,  we  are  coming  to  see  that  much  of  the  doubt  of 
our  day  is  due  to  a  fine  sense  of  personal  honor  in  dealing 
with  religious  beliefs,  involving  the  willingness  to  endure 
suffering  if  need  be  rather  than  be  guilty  of  the  slightest 
falsehood  in  reference  to  religious  truths.  There  are  hosts  of 
well-intentioned  persons  today  whose  religious  life  has  been 
made  uncertain  because  of  honest  doubt  induced  by  modern 
education.  Such  persons  can  no  longer  think  in  terms  of  the 
traditional  creeds.  They  live  consciously  in  relation  to  the 
complex  world  of  modern  scientific  thought  rather  than  in 
relation  to  the  cosmos  depicted  in  the  Bible.  With  the  dis- 
crediting of  the  older  doctrines  they  often  suffer  spiritual 
agonies.  To  call  this  typical  religious  need  of  our  day  "sin" 
is  hopelessly  to  misunderstand  the  problem  of  "salvation" 
in  such  instances*  To  be  "saved"  here  means  to  find  new 
ideas  which  may  both  express  the  honest  convictions  of 
one  who  lives  in  the  modern  world  and  lift  one  into  the  con- 
sciousness of  communion  with  God.  Only  an  inductive  study 
of  this  characteristic  experience  of  religious  doubt  can  furnish 
one  with  data  upon  which  to  construct  a  theory  of  salvation. 

Literature. — Such  an  autobiographical  sketch  as  Sir  Edmund  Gosse's 
Father  atid  Son  (New  York:  Scribner,  1907)  is  an  invaluable  means  of 
appreciating  the  situation.     See  also  Van  Dyke,  The  Gospel  for  an  Age  of 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      521 

Doubt  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1897);  Romanes,  Thoughts  on  Religion, 
2d  ed.  (Chicago:  Open  Court  Pub.  Co.,  1896);  Wimmer,  My  Struggle 
for  Light  (New  York:  Putnam,  1903). 

Of  far  more  importance  than  the  attempt  to  deal  with  this  t3^e  of 
experience  theoretically  is  the  task  of  knowing  the  critical  scholarship 
which  makes  the  older  doctrines  unsatisfactory.  The  critical  historical 
study  of  the  New  Testament,  for  example,  or  an  acquaintance  with  the 
sociological  method  of  interpreting  human  life,  will  bring  one  to  a 
realization  of  the  importance  of  the  problem  above  outlined. 

The  problem  of  sin. — In  dealing  with  the  conception  of 
sin  it  is  imperative  likewise  to  use  the  inductive  method.  Too 
often  it  has  been  taken  for  granted  that  the  experience  of  Paul 
or  Augustine  or  Luther  is  typical.  Can  this  experience  be 
universaHzed  ?  Is  it  to  be  expected  that  every  soul  will  pass 
through  so  dramatic  a  crisis  ?  Theologically,  sin  has  been 
measured  not  so  much  with  reference  to  the  experience  of  the 
individual  as  against  the  infinity  of  God.  If  this  interpreta- 
tion be  too  logically  carried  out,  there  is  danger  that  God  will 
seem  to  be  less  charitable  than  good  men,  and  the  moral  value 
of  the  interpretation  is  thus  lost. 

Let^e  student  ask  empirically  the  question  why  sin  actu- 
ally exists  in  human  life.  Psychology  and  social  science 
furnish  valuable  insight  here.  What  are  the  actual  facts  con- 
cerning heredity?  Is  moral  delinquency  due  primarily  to 
what  we  inherit  ?  Or  is  it  due  largely  to  the  social  environ- 
ment and  to  the  education  which  the  individual  receives  ? 
In  view  of  the  facts  established  by  sociology,  can  we  treat 
sin  entirely  in  terms  of  individual  conduct  and  responsibihty  ?  - 
How  much  does  an  enfeebled  body  have  to  do  with  moral  - 
delinquency  ?  How  far  are  overcrowding  and  undernourish-  " 
ment  responsible  for  low  moral  standards?  If  such  facts 
as  are  suggested  by  the  foregoing  questions  are  considered, 
how  ought  a  doctrine  of  sin  to  be  formulated  ?  No  theological 
student  has  any  right  to  ignore  the  imperative  necessity  for  a 
radical  reconstruction  of  the  doctrine  of  sin  in  the  light  of 
modem  knowledge. 


52  2        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

When  once  the  facts  are  clearly  seen,  the  student  will  dis- 
cover that,  instead  of  minimizing  the  emphasis  of  Christianity 
on  sin,  he  must  face  a  terribly  complex  and  powerful  realm  of 
evil  which  holds  men  in  wrongdoing.  Every  individual  is 
bound  by  physical  and  by  social  conditions  to  realities  which 
thwart  his  moral  purposes.  Poor  eyesight  or  adenoids  may 
so  exclude  a  child  from  normal  conditions  of  activity  as  to 
induce  hopelessness  and  passionate  attempts  to  find  relief 
through  lawlessness  or  trickery.  Employees  may  be  com- 
pelled by  industrial  conditions  to  do  dishonest  work,  knowing 
that  it  is  dishonest.  Even  the  church  member  may  be  deriv- 
ing his  income  from  the  proceeds  of  iniquity,  if  he  is  ignorant 
as  to  the  exact  nature  of  his  investments.  A  man  who 
honestly  desires  to  be  a  disciple  of  Jesus  finds  the  hindrances 
to  discipleship  to  be  so  many  and  so  serious  that  the  need 
for  salvation  is  keenly  felt.  The  frank  recognition  of  these 
real  foes  of  the  good  life  brings  a  much  more  convincing 
knowledge  of  the  sinful  life  than  is  the  attempt  to  trace  our 
ills  to  an  inheritance  from  Adam.  The  realization  of  the.  facts 
which  everyone  ought  to  know  is  sufficient  to  produce  an 
earnest  longing  for  deliverance. 

Literature. — The  familiar  theological  doctrine  of  sin  is  thoroughly 
treated  in  Tennant,  The  Origin  and  Propagation  of  Sin  (Cambridge: 
University  Press,  1902);  Robinson,  The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Man 
(Edinburgh:  Clark,  19 11);  and  Orchard,  Modern  Theories  of  Sin 
(London:  Clarke,  1909).  R.  Mackintosh,  Christianity  and  Sin  (New 
York:    Scribner,  1914),  gives  a  very  complete  bibliography. 

The  empirical  point  of  view,  dealing  with  moral  facts  of  our  modern 
life  rather  than  with  adjustments  of  the  traditional  theological  doctrine, 
is  vigorously  represented  in  Rauschenbusch,  Christianity  and  the  Social 
Crisis  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1907);  Ross,  Sin  and  Society  (Boston: 
Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1907);  Vedder,  The  Gospel  of  Jesus  and  the  Prob- 
lems of  Democracy  (New  York:   Macmillan,  1914). 

Attempts  at  a  constructive  statement  from  this  point  of  view  are 
found  in  Hyde,  Sin  and  Its  Forgiveness  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co., 
1909),  and  G.  B.  Smith,  in  Burton,  Smith,  and  Smith,  Biblical  Ideas  of 
Atonement,  chap,  xiii  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909). 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      523 

The  interpretation  of  salvation  in  terms  of  supernaturalism. 

— The  spiritual  deliverance  which  a  man  finds  through 
religious  experience  is  so  wonderful  when  contrasted  with  the 
evils  which  weigh  us  down  that  it  has  very  generally  been 
interpreted  in  terms  of  a  supernatural  change.  The  Catholic 
regards  the  sacraments  as  the  miraculous  means  of  saving 
man;  Protestantism  has  emphasized  trust  in  a  supernaturally 
revealed  ''Word  of  God,"  and  in  evangelistic  circles  has 
insisted  upon  a  crisis  in  experience  so  unusual  as  to  demand  a 
supernatural  explanation.  The  student  should  be  on  his 
guard  lest  a  discussion  of  supernaturalism  be  thrust  into  the 
foreground  and  distract  attention  from  the  facts  of  the 
religious  life.  It  often  happens  that  men  who  have  come  to 
question  the  adequacy  of  supernaturahstic  interpretations 
have  been  led  to  doubt  the  possibiUty  of  a  vital  religious  expe- 
rience of  salvation.  It  is  important  to  recognize  that  super- 
naturalism is  only  one  way  of  explaining  the  facts. 

The  conception  of  religious  experience  as  a  natural  devel- 
ment. — Today  we  are  coming  more  and  more  to  think  of 
religion  as  a  normal  and  natural  experience.  Those  who  con- 
fuse experience  with  its  doctrinal  interpretation  are  greatly 
perplexed  by  this  tendency,  for  it  seems  like  abandoning 
fundamental  realities  of  Christianity.  But  the  history  of 
religion  has  made  us  aware  that,  so  far  as  the  supernaturahstic 
details  of  a  doctrine  of  salvation  are  concerned,  these  appear 
.in  various  forms  in  pagan  religions  as  well  as  in  Christianity. 
Sacrifices  to  appease  the  deity,  incarnations  to  bring  the  deity 
to  help  mankind,  the  suffering  of  a  savior-god  to  bring  redemp- 
tion, sacraments  with  regenerating  power,  and  mystical 
exaltation  to  a  sense  of  oneness  with  God — ^these  may  all  be 
found  in  non-Christian  religions.  The  distinctive  qualities 
of  Christian  salvation  must  be  looked  for  in  the  kind  of  moral 
and  religious  character  produced  by  Christian  faith. 

Now,  the  kind  of  character  which  we  call  Christian  may  be 
developed  in  an  entirely  "natural"  way.     A  child  may  grow 


524        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

up  in  a  Christian  family  and  never  know  a  time  when  he  was 
not  trying  to  appreciate  and  appropriate  the  Christian  Hfe  to 
the  best  of  his  abihty.  In  such  a  case  one  is  more  conscious  of 
the  spiritual  influence  of  Christian  people  today  than  he  is  of 
supernatural  interventions. 

Religious  life  more  important  than  doctrine. — It  is  to  be 
feared  that  more  attention  is  usually  paid  to  the  formal  doc-  - 
trines  of  salvation  than  to  the  reaHties  of  the  religious  life. 
For  a  vital  understanding  of  the  religious  hfe  Augustine's 
Concessions  are  far  more  important  than  his  anti-Pelagian 
theology.  Luther's  sermons  and  his  Tahle-Talk  reveal  evan- 
gelical religion  better  than  the  later  Protestant  formulations 
of  the  doctrine  of  justification.  Anselm's  doctrine  of  satis 
faction  is  really  an  utterance  of  speculative  apologetics  in- 
spired by  current  political  ideas  rather  than  an  interpretation 
of  rehgious  experience.  Let  the  student  learn  to  seek  direct 
testimonies  of  the  saving  power  of  God.  Let  him  remem- 
ber that  to  begin  with  an  elaboration  of  a  "doctrine"  of 
atonement  or  of  regeneration  before  one  has  undertaken  to 
appreciate  the  facts  of  our  religious  life  means  to  spend  time 
in  barren  scholastic  discussions. 

The  need  of  a  revised  theological  vocabulary. — ^It  is 
characteristic  of  our  day  that  men  are  seeking  to  get  rid  of  the 
scholasticism  which  inevitably  accompanies  a  mere  deductive 
method  in  theology.  We  are  attempting  to  define  salvation 
in  terms  of  inner  spiritual  attainments  rather  than  in  relation 
to  some  external  "transaction.'^  The  life  of  Jesus  becomes 
the  standard  by  which  we  estimate  both  the  need  of  salvation 
and  the  power  of  Jesus  to  save  men.  But  the  inertia  of 
theological  thinking  tends  to  conserve  terms  which  have  had  a 
vital  significance  in  relation  to  realities  of  former  days,  but 
which  are  artificial  in  our  own  day.  To  insist  upon  a  doc- 
trine of  bloody  sacrifice  in  an  age  which  has  completely 
abandoned  such  sacrifices  in  actual  life  serves  no  purpose  save 
to  confuse  men.     To  describe  the  "work"  of  Christ  by  the 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      525 

traditional  titles  of  "prophet,"  "priest,"  and  "king"  involves 
the  use  of  terms  which  have  largely  ceased  to  function  in 
actual  life  today.  The  Ritschlian  theology  furnishes  an 
especially  good  illustration  of  the  laborious  explanations  and 
reinterpretations  which  are  necessary  if  one  employs  terms 
belonging  to  an  outgrown  culture  to  interpret  the  meaning  of 
Jesus  in  relation  to  a  different  culture. 

The  student  of  theology  should  recognize  the  danger  of 
artificiality  which  lurks  in  the  use  of  outgrown  terms.  The 
most  suggestive  expositions  of  the  doctrine  of  salvation  today 
are  adopting  conceptions  which  are  significant  in  our  modem 
life.  The  so-called  "moral  influence"  or  "vital"  theories 
of  the  atonement  represent  attempts  to  find  analogies  in 
our  best  spiritual  life  which  may  serve  to  interpret  our 
relation  to  Jesus.  We  are  coming  more  and  more  to  adopt 
the  empirical  attitude  which  cares  more  for  facts  than  for 
labels.  The  student  should  constantly  ask  himself  such 
questions  as  the  following:  Just  what  are  the  evils  from  which 
we  need  to  be  saved  ?  Is  terror  at  the  wrath  of  God  the 
most  real  evil  of  which  we  are  conscious  ?  If  not,  are  we 
interpreting  religious  experience  adequately  by  a  doctrine 
of  salvation  which  presupposes  that  the  work  of  Christ  was 
primarily  to  satisfy  God  ?  Are  not  the  transformation  of 
human  ideals  and  the  stimulation  of  new  spiritual  power 
primary  ends  ?  What  about  the  social  and  industrial  cir- 
cumstances which  are  responsible  for  so  much  sin  and  misery 
in  our  modern  world  ?  Are  we  setting  forth  a  doctrine  of  sal- 
vation which  includes  the  way  of  release  from  these  evils  ?  If 
one  has  felt  the  blighting  consequences  of  modern  materiahstic 
philosophy,  can  his  salvation  be  expressed  in  a  doctrine 
formulated  before  men  were  aware  of  the  immensity  and  the 
uniformity  of  our  universe  ?  Have  we  done  justice  to  the 
inner  life  of  Jesus,  with  its  spiritual  victory  over  the  demoraliz- 
ing forces  which  everywhere  assail  humanity  ?  Ought  not 
this  as  well  as  his  crucifixion  to  receive  adequate  interpreta- 


526        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

tion?  The  persistent  endeavor  to  meet  the  facts  of  our 
actual  experience  and  to  judge  the  efficacy  of  any  theory  of 
salvation  in  the  light  of  those  facts  will  go  far  to  save  one 
from  formalism  and  from  the  undesirable  habit  of  mere 
rhetorical  adaptation  of  famihar  phrases  to  changed  con- 
ditions. There  is  a  great  constructive  task  in  this  field  of 
doctrine  which  has  not  yet  been  adequately  undertaken. 

Literature. — The  most  significant  recent  works  on  the  doctrine  of 
salvation  have  attempted  to  interpret  the  significance  of  the  work  of 
Christ  so  as  to  do  justice  to  our  modern  ethical  and  spiritual  ideals. 
Stevens,  The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Salvation  (New  York:  Scribner,  1905), 
gives  an  excellent  survey  of  the  history  of  the  doctrine  and  a  criticism  of 
recent  treatises.  Another  good  historical  survey  is  by  Sabatier,  La  Doc- 
trine de  r expiation  et  son  evolution  historique  (Paris:  Fischbacher,  1904; 
English  translation  by  Leuliette,  The  Doctrine  of  the  Atonement  and  Its 
Historical  Evolution  [New  York:    Putnam,  1904]). 

Important  treatises  are  those  by  J.  McLeod  Campbell,  The  Nature  of 
the  Atonement  and  Its  Relation  to  the  Remission  of  Sins  (London  and  New 
York:  Macmillan,  1855;  6th  ed.,  1895);  A.  Ritschl,  Die  christliche 
Lehre  von  der  Rechtfertigung  und  Versohnung,  3d  ed.  (Bonn:  Marcus, 
1889;  English  translation  of  2  vols,  by  Black  and  by  Mackintosh  and 
Macaulay,  The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Justification  and  Reconciliation 
[Edinburgh:  Edmonston,  1872;  Clark,  1900]);  Bushnell,  The  Vicarious 
Sacrifice  (New  York:  Scribner,  1866);  Dale,  The  Atonement  (London: 
Congregational  Union,  1875;  14th  ed.,  1892);  Denney,  The  Atonement 
and  the  Modern  Mind,  3d  ed.  (London:  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1910).  A 
good  selected  bibliography  is  found  in  Burton,  Smith,  and  Smith,  Biblical 
Ideas  of  Atonement  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909). 

The  relation  between  the  conception  of  salvation  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  person  of  Christ. — The  historical  method  of 
interpretation  reveals  to  us  the  close  relation  between  the 
religious  ideals  of  an  age  and  the  significance  which  it  assigns 
to  Christ.  Christian  faith  has  always  attempted  to  discover  in 
the  character  of  Jesus  precisely  those 'qualities  which  are 
necessary  for  the  salvation  of  men.  The  early  Christians, 
looking  for  salvation  in  terms  of  the  advent  of  the  messianic 
kingdom,    found   the   primary   significance   of  Jesus   in   his 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      527 

messiahship.  The  Christians  of  the  Nicene  period,  conceiving 
salvation  to  consist  in  the  transformation  of  corruptible  human 
nature  by  divine  power,  declared  that  the  important  thing 
about  Christ  was  his  divine  "nature."  Mediaeval  doctrine 
and  early  Protestant  theology,  dominated  by  forensic  ideas,  set 
forth  the  work  of  Christ  in  concepts  taken  from  current 
penology.  Our  own  age,  interested  as  it  is  in  the  education 
and  the  inner  maturity  of  the  spirit,  is  calling  attention  to  the 
spiritual  resources  of  the  inner  hfe  of  Jesus.  In  order  to 
study  intelhgently  the  doctrine  of  the  person  and  work  of 
Jesus  Christ,  one  must  take  into  account  the  practical  inter- 
ests of  religion  which  make  men  eager  to  discover  in  Jesus 
precisely  the  qualities  which  they  are  conscious  of  needing 
for  dehverance  from  evil. 

The  necessity  for  eliminating  some  a  priori  considerations, 
— The  problem  of  interpreting  the  significance  of  Jesus  for 
Christian  faith  is  complicated  because  of  certain  apologetic 
interests.  Since  the  older  appeal  to  the  Bible  as  an  "abso- 
lute" revelation  has  been  modified,  theologians  have  generally 
transferred  to  Christ  the  emphasis  on  absoluteness  which 
formerly  was  put  upon  the  Bible.  Just  as  the  a  priori  belief 
in  the  infallibility  of  Scripture  leads  to  the  strong  desire  to  find 
in  the  Bible  that  which  one  believes  to  be  absolutely  true, 
regardless  of  historical  considerations,  so  the  apologetic 
purpose  of  declaring  Christ  to  be  the  absolute  and  final  revela- 
tion leads  men  to  feel  that  they  ought  to  find  in  his  character 
precisely  those  traits  which  modern  men  believe  to  be  essential 
in  an  ideal  person.  The  student  must  take  especial  care  to 
test  and  verify  christological  statements  just  because  of  this 
strong  apologetic  interest  in  the  formulation  of  the  doctrine. 
Itjs  not  necessary  to  trace  every  valuable  element  of  Chris- 
tianity back  to  Jesus. 

What  are  the  historical  facts  concerning  Jesus? — Mani- 
festly an  accurate  statement  of  the  character  of  Jesus  must 
rest  on  a  knowledge  of  the  historical  facts  concerning  him. 


528        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

But  at  this  point  students  are  just  now  compelled  to  face  a 
serious  difficulty.  At  present  historical  criticism  of  the 
sources  of  our  information  is  at  a  stage  of  investigation  where 
the  inadequacy  of  former  interpretations  is  clearly  seen; 
but  great  uncertainty  exists  as  to  many  important  historical 
details.  We  are  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  in  the  exist- 
ing state  of  historical  criticism  we  simply  do  not  know  many 
things  which  we  should  like  to  know.  The  Synoptic  Gospels 
represent  beliefs  which  had  been  shaped  by  the  theological 
questionings  of  thirty  or  forty  years.  The  New  Testament 
writers  were  primarily  concerned  to  use  the  traditions  regard- 
ing Jesus  in  such  a  way  as  to  derive  satisfactory  answers 
to  the  religious  problems  which  confronted  them.  Powerful 
selective  theological  influences  thus  determined  the  content 
of  the  gospel  narratives.  Can  we  with  any  degree  of  cer- 
tainty press  back  of  the  definitely  conditioned  beliefs  of  the 
early  Christians  so  as  to  obtain  satisfactory  answers  to  the 
questions  which  we  moderns  want  to  ask  ? 

The  distinction  between  the  historical  question  and  the 
theological  question. — The  student  is  likely  to  approach  the 
problem  of  formulating  a  Christology  with  the  presupposition 
that  if  the  exact  teachings  of  the  New  Testament  concerning 
Jesus  can  be  ascertained  all  that  a  modern  theologian  has  to 
do  is  to  expound  these  teachings  in  the  form  of  a  connected  and 
logical  doctrine.  But  historical  criticism  shows  us  that  the 
New  Testament  writings  are  themselves  the  products  of  theo- 
logical interests.  They  reflect  the  religious  ideals  of  the  first 
century.  Later  forms  of  Christology  reflected  later  ideals, 
and  our  Christology  will  inevitably  embody  our  own  ideals. 
Now,  since  the  task  of  modern  theology  is  admittedly  to  inter- 
pret the  realities  of  our  experience  in  the  light  of  all  that  his- 
tory and  criticism  can  furnish,  the  student  of  theology  need 
not  feel  completely  discouraged  because  he  must  leave  many 
historical  questions  so  largely  unsolved.  The  task  for  theol- 
ogy is  simply  to  use  all  means  at  our  disposal  to  appreciate 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      529 

the  significance  of  Jesus  for  men  of  today.  Our  peculiar 
religious  interests  will  lead  us  to  discern  elements  in  the  re- 
ported deeds  and  words  of  Jesus  which  were  largely  overlooked 
by  men  of  former  days.  For  example,  the  early  Christians  were 
not  at  all  interested  in  the  private  life  of  Jesus.  They  selected 
and  treasured  in  their  doctrine  those  traits  which  enabled  them 
to  believe  him  to  be  the  Messiah  who  would  soon  come  on 
the  clouds  in  glory.  But  time  has  proved  that  eschatological^ 
expectation  to  have  been  mistaken.  We  are  no  longer  looking  ^ 
for  the  cure  of  our  social  evils  by  miraculous  catastrophe. 
Our  theology  will  therefore  properly  disregard  the  millenarian 
elements  of  the  early  Christian  faith.  On  the  other  hand,  we 
are  eager  to  find  a  religious  dynamic  which  shall  enable  men 
confidently  and  steadily  to  work  together  with  God  for  the 
gradual  reconstruction  of  our  social  order.  Hence  we  properly 
ask  whether  the  life  of  Jesus  may  not  yield  inspiration  here. 
It  is  the  task  of  a  modern  Christology  to  relate  Jesus  to  this 
modern  religious  interest  as  former  Christologies  have  related 
their  statements  concerning  Jesus  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
religious  life  of  their  own  times. 

The  changed  interpretation  of  Jesus. — Since  the  mil- 
lenarian solution  of  social  ills  involved  the  belief  that  miracu- 
lous intervention  is  God's  way  of  saving  the  world,  it  was 
natural  that  the  character  and  the  work  of  Jesus  should  be 
interpreted  in  terms  of  miracle.  But  if  we  have  come  to 
think  of  God's  purpose  as  something  which  is  slowly  wrought 
out  with  the  co-operation  of  men,  we  cannot  do  justice  to  our 
belief  in  Jesus  by  interpreting  his  character  in  terms  of  a 
supernaturalism  which  separates  him  from  humanity.  If 
God  is  to  be  found  in  the  age-long  purpose  of  righteousness 
steadily  working  through  the  processes  of  cosmic  and  human 
evolution,  our  doctrine  of  Christ  will  lay  stress  on  the  same 
activities  and  attributes  which  we  affirm  of  God.  This  means 
that  to  withdraw  Jesus  from  the  "natural"  order  would  be 
to  leave  him  unrelated  to  the  realm  in  which  we  find  God 


530        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

working.  If  our  faith  affirms  God  in  the  world,  faith  will  also 
discover  the  divinity  of  Jesus  in  the  world  rather  than  in 
some  other-worldly  origin.  Consequently  we  find  today  a 
growing  appreciation  of  the  life  of  Jesus  in  this  world  and  a 
lessening  emphasis  on  such  matters  as  the  virgin  birth  or  the 
supernatural  "nature,"  which  find  their  meaning  only  in  a 
conception  of  religion  which  defines  God  primarily  in  terms 
of  transcendence. 

The  need  of  a  positive  understanding  of  the  new  interest. 
— The  student  is  likely  to  be  distracted  in  his  study  of  Chris- 
tology  by  the  polemic  treatment  of  the  subject  which  is  still 
prevalent.  Any  departure  from  the  Christology  authorized 
in  the  creeds  of  the  church  is  felt  to  be  a  betrayal  of  the  faith. 
The  student  should  realize  that  we  today  are  engaged  in  a 
creative  epoch  of  religious  thinking  no  less  significant  than  the 
age  which  produced  the  Nicene  Christology.  Exactly  as  men 
then  defined  the  significance  of  Jesus  in  terms  which  fitted  the 
religious  ideals  and  aspirations  of  the  time,  so  we  today  are 
attempting  to  relate  Jesus  positively  and  vitally  to  the  reli- 
gious ideals  in  which  our  best  aspirations  find  expression.  If 
the  Christians  of  the  first  century  had  the  right  to  employ  mes- 
sianic ideas  in  their  interpretation  of  the  significance  of  Jesus ; 
if  the  Nicene  Fathers  had  the  right  to  introduce  into  their 
Christology  the  mystic-philosophical  ideals  of  their  time;  if 
Luther  had  the  right  to  relate  Christ  directly  to  his  funda- 
mental problem  of  religious  assurance,  surely  modern  Chris- 
tians are  justified  in  attempting  to  undertake  a  constructive 
task  of  similar  import  for  our  own  day.  The  trend  of  theo- 
logical thinking  during  the  past  century  has~5een  in  the 
direction  of  a  new  appreciation  of  the  life  of  Jesus  in  human 
history.  Theology  must  do  justice  to  this  positive  ideal. 
Any  negative  criticisms  of  former  christological  statements 
are  only  incidental  to  the  great  positive  motive  which  inspires 
modern  thinking. 

Some  important  questions. — Before  undertaking  to  formu- 
late a  constructive  doctrine  of  the  character  of  Jesus  one 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      531 

should  analyze  the  familiar  terms,  asking  what  significance 
they  have  for  modern  religious  experience.  What  is  meant 
by  the  "deity"  of  Christ ?  If  it  is  taken  in  its  Nicene  sense, 
just  what  meaning  for  religious  experience  can  a  divine 
"substance"  have?  What  was  the  relation  between  this 
substantial  conception  of  the  deity  of  Christ  and  the  sub- 
stantial conception  of  sacramental  regeneration  which  pre- 
vailed at  the  same  time  ?  If  a  modern  religious  experience 
does  not  think  of  God  in  terms  of  "substance,"  is  justice 
done  to  the  significance  of  Jesus  by  the  use  of  the  term  ? 
How  are  we  actually  saved  by  Jesus  today?  Is  it  because 
of  his  messianic  exaltation  ?  Or  is  it  also  because  through  the 
power  of  his  life  over  us  we  are  enabled  to  have  a  triumphant 
faith  ?  If  the  latter  is  the  case,  do  we  do  justice  to  the  place 
of  Jesus  in  our  faith  if  we  confine  ourselves  to  a  doctrinal 
statement,  like  the  Apostles'  Creed,  which  passes  over  the 
life  of  Jesus  in  silence,  in  order  to  exalt  the  messianic  aspects  of 
his  career  ?  Why  are  we  so  eager  today  to  understand  and 
appreciate  the  experience  of  Jesus  ?  Why  do  we  picture  him 
as  facing  "problems"  ?  Why  are  we  beginning  to  talk  about 
the  "religion  of  Jesus"?  Did  the  older  christological  con- 
ceptions really  leave  room  for  a  genuine  religious  experience 
of  Jesus  ?  Such  are  some  of  the  questions  which  must  be 
asked  before  fruitful  constructive  work  is  possible. 

The  definition  of  Jesus  in  relation  to  religious  experience. 
— Theologically,  the  content  of  Christology  is  to  be  found  by 
asking  two  questions:  "From  what  do  men  need  to  be 
saved  ? "  and  "How  is  Jesus  related  to  man's  salvation  ? "  If 
the  source  of  our  sin  is  located  in  a  non-psychological  "nature  " 
which  we  inherit,  we  shall,  of  course,  interpret  the  work  of 
Christ  in  terms  of  his  "natures,"  divine  and  human.  But  if 
we  think  of  sin  concretely  and  refer  it  to  its  psychological 
causes,  we  shall  interpret  salvation  in  terms  of  conscious 
experience.  We  shall  then  not  ask  concerning  the  "nature" 
of  Jesus,  but  rather  concerning  his  religious  consciousness  and 
life.     We  shall  emphasize  his  God-consciousness  and  his  ability 


532        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

to  create  in  his  disciples  a  trust  in  God  which  gives  spiritual 
insight  and  moral  power.  As  Schleiermacher  declared, 
the  important  thing  about  Jesus  is  his  God-consciousness. 
A  modern  Christology  will  seek  to  make  clear  the  reli- 
gious significance  of  this  God-consciousness  in  relation  to  the 
specific  needs  of  modern  life.  The  terms  employed  by  the 
Nicene  and  the  Chalcedonian  creeds,  admirably  suited  as  they 
were  to  the  religious  thinking  of  their  age,  are  not  adequate 
to  express  this  modern  interest.  Hence  we  are  now  in  the 
process  of  working  out  a  new  vocabulary  with  which  to 
express  the  significance  of  the  character  and  the  work  of  Jesus 
as  enthusiastically  and  as  vitally  for  our  age  as  the  ecumenical 
creeds  expressed  it  for  a  different  age.  There  is  no  more 
fruitful  field  for  study  than  this  realm  of  the  creative  con- 
struction of  a  new  appreciation  of  Jesus. 

Literature.- — The  traditional  religious  interest,  with  its  unwavering 
belief  in  salvation  as  an  essentially  supernatural  transformation  of  human 
nature,  is  forcefully  expounded  in  Briggs,  The  Fundamental  Christian 
Faith  (New  York:  Scribner,  1913);  Warfield,  The  Lord  oj  Glory  (New 
York:  American  Tract  Soc,  1907) ;  and  NoUoth,  The  Person  of  Our  Lord 
(New  York:   Macmillan,  1908). 

Most  present-day  discussions  attempt  to  do  justice  to  the  modern 
interest  in  religious  experience  without  departing  from  the  older  vocabu- 
lary. Important  among  these  are  Denney,  Jesus  and  the  Gospel  (New 
York:  Armstrong,  1909);  Forsyth,  The  Person  and  Place  of  Christ 
(Boston:  Pilgrim  Press,  1909);  Sanday,  Christologies  Ancient  and 
Modern  (New  York:  American  branch  of  the  Oxford  University 
Press,  1910);  Mackintosh,  The  Doctrine  of  the  Person  of  Jesus  Christ 
(New  York:   Scribner,  19 12). 

The  Ritschlian  interpretation  of  the  significance  of  Jesus  has  been 
particularly  influential.  Herrmann,  Der  Verkehr  des  Christen  niit  Gott, 
4th  ed.  (Stuttgart,  Cotta,  1903;  English  translation.  The  Communion  of 
the  Christian  with  God  [New  York:  Putnam,  1906]),  should  be  read  by 
every  theological  student.  It  portrays  with  matchless  power  the  inner 
life  of  Jesus  as  a  redemptive  force.  F.  L.  Anderson,  The  Man  of  Naza- 
reth (New  York:  Macmillan,  1915),  furnishes  a  profound  religious 
appreciation  of  the  life  of  Jesus. 

The  attempt  to  distinguish  between  the  Jesus  of  history  and  the 
Christ  of  later  faith  has  recently  received  much  attention  from  German 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      533 

scholars.  Loofs,  What  Is  the  Truth  about  Jesus  Christ?  (New  York: 
Scribner,  191 2) ,  presents  a  conservative  view.  Bousset,  Jesus  (Tubingen : 
Mohr,  1904;  English  translation  by  Trevelyan,  Jesus  [New  York:  Put- 
nam, 1906]),  and Kyrios Christos  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht, 
1913),  set  forth  a  liberal  estimate.  An  excellent  survey  of  the  latest 
phases  of  the  discussion  is  found  in  Case,  The  Historicity  of  Jesus  (Chi- 
cago: The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  191 2).  An  analysis  of  the 
problem  is  given  by  G.  B.  Smith  in  "The  Christ  of  Faith  and  the  Jesus 
of  History,"  American  Journal  of  Theology,  XVIII  (October,  1914), 
521-44- 

The  Christian  life. — The  deductive  method  followed  by 
the  older  theology  placed  the  doctrine  of  God  and  the  plan 
of  salvation  first  and  made  the  experience  of  the  Christian  a 
logical  consequence  of  the  dogmas  of  salvation.  The  induc- 
tive method  requires  one  first  to  examine  religious  experience 
in  order  to  discover  the  data  for  theological  thinking.  The 
significant  aspects  of  Christian  experience  will  therefore 
already  have  been  considered  by  the  student  in  connection 
with  other  doctrines.  However,  it  is  necessary  to  give  an 
interpretation  which  shall  gather  up  the  implications  of  one's 
theological  thinking  and  set  the  activities  of  life  in  relation 
to  a  vital  faith.  It  is  here  that  the  fundamental  difference  is 
to  be  found  between  a  purely  scientific  study  of  experience 
and  its  religious  interpretation  by  the  preacher.  The  scien- 
tist is  not  concerned  to  discuss  the  reality  of  the  existence 
of  God;  he  is  concerned  only  with  the  idea  of  God  and  its 
psychological  significance.  The  preacher,  on  the  contrary, 
must  make  men  feel  the  reality  of  the  communion  of  the 
soul  with  God.  He  must  therefore  set  forth  religious  experi- 
ence, not  as  mere  psychology,  but  as  theology.  Religion  must 
be  seen  to  be,  not  only  a  human  experiment,  but  also  a  real 
communion  of  man  with  God. 

The  "Religion  of  the  Spirit." — -The  theological  vocabulary 
which  we  have  inherited  suggests  a  somewhat  formal  aspect 
of  Christian  living.  Such  terms  as  "regeneration,"  ''con- 
version," ''sanctification,"  and  the  like  have  been  the  watch- 
words of  so  many  theological  controversies  that  they  have 


534        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

come  to  be  associated  with  narrowly  dogmatic  conceptions 
of  the  Christian  life.  Moreover,  so  eager  have  the  dis- 
putants been  to  establish  the  correctness  of  certain  views 
that  arbitrary  lines  of  chronological  succession,  of  "stages" 
of  salvation,  or  of  relationship  to  certain  beliefs  or  ordinances 
have  been  laid  down.  In  recent  times  preachers  and  theo- 
logians have  been  learning  to  observe  the  actual  facts  of  reli- 
gious experience.  Thus  we  now  have  many  expositions  of  the 
Christian  life  which  ignore  the  technical  theological  disputes 
of  former  days  and  which  seek  to  give  vital  interpretation  to 
life  itself. 

In  order  to  give  full  religious  significance  to  the  Christian 
life,  it  should  be  theologically  viewed  as  the  work  of  the 
divine  Spirit  in  the  heart  of  man.  In  the  place  of  the  older 
ordo  salutis,  with  its  formal  discussions  of  the  mechanics  of 
salvation,  we  should  do  well  to  put  a  vital  discussion  of  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  interesting  to  see  how  this 
doctrine  has  been  neglected  by  both  Catholic  and  Protestant 
theologians.  Catholics  find  in  the  church  the  needed  religious 
guidance.  Protestants  have  been  inclined  to  place  primary 
stress  on  the  work  of  Christ  and  the  "plan  of  salvation." 
Modern  religious  sentiment  is  coming  to  demand  an  inter- 
pretation which  shall  do  justice  to  the  immanent  divine 
factors  of  our  experience  of  God  and  salvation.  The  doc- 
trine of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  coming  into  greater  prominence 
because  of  this  demand. 

The  student  should  realize  that  here  is  a  possible  doctrinal 
development  which  will  do  much  to  offset  the  sense  of  loss  occa- 
sioned by  the  disappearance  of  the  method  of  appeal  to  author- 
ity. If  men  can  he  assured  of  the  vital  presence  of  God  in 
modern  life,  if  the  "religion  of  the  Spirit"  can  be  confidently 
proclaimed,  the  disappearance  of  book-religion  will  not  cause 
serious  concern.  Every  preacher  should  study  some  of  the 
religious  movements  of  our  day  which  exalt  this  conception  of 
a  present  power  of  God.     The  thousands  who  are  reading 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      535 

such  books  as  Trine 's  In  Tune  with  the  Infinite,  or  who  are 
uphfted  by  the  somewhat  pantheistic  conceptions  of  Chris- 
tian Science,  witness  to  the  power  of  a  rehgious  interpretation 
which  makes  Hfe  seem  constantly  interrelated  with  God. 
Popular  evangelistic  religion  owes  its  success  to  precisely  this 
vivid  portrayal  of  divine  power  near  at  hand  and  easily  avail- 
able. Liberal  religion  is  sure  to  be  a  failure  if  it  does  not 
emphasize  the  conception  of  God  as  immediately  accessible. 
Nowhere  is  there  greater  need  of  careful  study  and  reflection 
than  at  this  point. 

Here,  as  always,  the  student  should  let  his  theological 
thinking  rest  on  a  first-hand  acquaintance  with  real  reli- 
gious experience.  The  testimonies  and  biographies  of  great 
religious  spirits  should  be  read.  One  should  know  what 
regeneration  is,  not  merely  in  terms  of  formal  doctrine, 
but  as  it  finds  expression  in  the  lives  of  those  who  have  been 
transformed  by  the  grace  of  God.  Such  experiences  as 
those  narrated  in  Harold  Begbie's  Twice-horn  Men  should 
be  carefully  examined,  for  here  we  see  the  dramatic  possi- 
biUties  of  Christian  faith.  But  one  should  also  become 
familiar  with  the  deep  experiences  of  those  who  have  had  no 
dramatic  crises.  The  utterances  of  Phillips  Brooks  are  surely 
as  important  and  as  significant  as  are  those  of  a  converted 
drunkard.  The  modern  minister  should  be  able  to  show  the 
work  of  the  divine  Spirit  in  the  influences  of  Christian  parents 
as  truly  as  in  the  appeals  of  a  professional  evangelist.  Indeed, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  striking  conversions  are  dramatically 
impressive,  and  hence  are  hkely  to  be  viewed  as  the  most 
important  evidences  of  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  we  ought  to 
take  especial  pains  to  show  the  religious  significance  of  the 
more  normal  processes  of  growth  into  a  confident  and  strong 
sense  of  the  presence  of  God. 

Some  important  questions. — It  is  essential  to  realize 
that  modern  conditions  of  thinking  have  altered  certain 
aspects  of  Christian  experience.    Some  of  these  changes  are  of 


536        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

considerable  significance  and  ought  to  find  expression  in 
theology.        • 

For  example,  early  Protestantism  made  much  of  the 
doctrine  of  assurance.  To  Luther  any  sort  of  uncertainty  was 
spiritual  torture.  Salvation  meant  that  one  could  without 
shadow  of  doubt  declare  and  know  himself  to  be  justified  and 
approved  by  God.  The  influence  of  this  early  Protestant 
conception  frequently  leads  to  deep  perplexity  today.  One  who 
is  acquainted  with  critical  scholarship  cannot  assure  himself 
by  the  considerations  which  satisfied  Luther.  What  then  ? 
To  reproduce  the  more  naive  type  of  certainty  is  impossible. 
Is  one  therefore  less  of  a  Christian  ?  We  need  here  to  con- 
sider that  we  do  not  demand  absolute,  unchangeable  affirma- 
tions in  other  realms.  We  find  abundant  room  for  positive 
living  on  the  basis  of  a  tentative  and  growing  knowledge. 
In  religion  we  need  to  incorporate .  this  attitude  into  the 
Christian  life.  To  be  growing  toward  a  better  acquaintance 
with  God  rather  than  to  be  dogmatically  certain  of  complete 
salvation  is  an  attitude  increasingly  common  today.  The 
religious  value  of  this  attitude  should  be  positively  appreci- 
ated. Faith  that  one  will  find  in  the  future  ever-richer  and 
more  satisfying  practical  experience  of  God's  presence  may 
take  the  place  of  the  older  certainty  which  affirmed  an  abso- 
lute assurance  from  the  first. 

If  one  takes  this  more  experimental  attitude,  many  of  the 
older  questions  disappear.  The  doctrine  of  instantaneous 
sanctification  and  the  questions  concerning  "perseverance" 
or  "falling  from  grace"  cease  to  have  meaning.  When  the 
Christian  hfe  is  thought  of  in  terms  of  a  development  rather 
than  in  terms  of  an  abrupt  structural  change,  the  older 
"absolutes"  cease  to  be  matters  of  practical  concern.  The 
modern  form  of  the  doctrine  will  be  expressed  in  the  conception 
of  a  growing  experience  of  God. 

With  the  changed  conception  of  the  Christian  life  comes  a 
new  conception  of  prayer.     Christianity  means  the  growing 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      537 

experience  of  a  social  relationship  with  God.  But  the  very 
means  by  which  this  social  relationship  is  established  is 
prayer.  The  "answers"  to  prayer  are  not  to  be  looked  for 
in  detached  incidents,  but  rather  in  the  total  outcome  in  one's 
religious  social  experience.  There  is  much  need  of  readjust- 
ment of  popular  thinking  on  this  point.  When  religion  is 
conceived  as  a  never-ceasing  quest  for  the  largest  possible 
communion  of  the  human  spirit  with  the  spiritual  forces  of  the 
world  in  which  we  live,  prayer  will  be  seen  to  be  the  prirary 
and  indispensable  activity  which  establishes  spiritual  relation- 
ships. When  considered  in  the  light  of  this  function  in  the 
total  religious  life,  it  assumes  larger  significance  than  men  have 
been  wont  to  recognize. 

It  is  evident  to  every  careful  observer  that  there  is  being 
developed  in  our  day  a  new  type  of  Christian  experience. 
There  is  danger  lest  we  fail  to  realize  the  full  power  of  this 
type  if  we  seek  to  force  it  to  utter  itself  in  the  vocabulary  of  a 
former  age.  To  appreciate  and  to  give  positive  interpreta- 
tion to  a  religious  experience  which  is  essentially  a  quest  for 
God,  yielding  a  growing  experience  of  communion  rather 
than  a  dogmatic  assertion  of  a  "finished"  redemption,  is  a 
task  worthy  of  the  best  efforts  of  theological  students  and 
preachers. 

Literature. — For  the  most  part  theologians  still  employ  the  con- 
ventional terms  to  expound  the  Christian  life.  But  in  popular  and 
untechnical  books  there  is  coming  into  existence  a  body  of  religious 
literature  of  real  power  setting  forth  the  characteristic  modern  attitude. 
The  student  may  well  acquaint  himself  with  Herrmann's  profoundly 
spiritual  interpretation  of  the  Christian  life  in  The  Christian'' s  Communion 
with  God  (New  York:  Putnam,  1908).  Other  suggestive  interpretations 
are  King,  Theology  and  the  Social  Consciousness  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
1902) ;  Jones,  Social  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World  (Philadelphia:  Winston, 
1904);  Coe,  The  Spiritual  Life  (Chicago:  Revell,  1900)  and  The  Religion 
of  a  Mature  Mind  (Chicago:  Revell,  1902);  Hyde,  God's  Education  of 
Man  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1899);  Faunce,  What  Does  Chris- 
tianity Mean?  (Chicago:  Revell,  191 2);  and  Dickinson,  The  Christian 
Reconstruction  of  Modern  Life  (New  York:  Macmillan,  19 13). 


538        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  Christian  hope. — In  no  realm  are  the  changes  of 
thinking  more  marked  than  in  the  portion  of  theology  which 
deals  with  the  future  life.  Where  theologians  used  to  speak 
to  us  in  detail  concerning  "last  things,"  they  now  set  forth  in 
somewhat  general  terms  the  reasonable  basis  for  optimistic 
confidence  in  the  continuance  of  life  beyond  physical  death. 

Reasons  for  a  changed  interpretation. — The  reasons  for 
this  change  of  emphasis  are  obvious.  Modern  biology  and 
psychology  have  compelled  the  recognition  of  the  close  inter- 
relation between  our  spiritual  and  our  physical  life.  When  the 
physical  organism  is  in  any  way  modified  or  ceases  to  function, 
the  character  of  the  spiritual  life  is  affected.  The  belief  in  the 
resurrection  of  the  body,  which  used  to  enable  men  to  think 
of  the  life  beyond  in  terms  of  the  activities  which  we  know  here, 
has  been  very  generally  modified.  Yet  when  we  attempt  to 
think  of  a  life  without  the  bodily  functions  to  which  we  are 
accustomed,  it  is  difficult  to  form  a  definite  picture.  More- 
over, the  modern  impossibility  of  reproducing  all  details 
of  the  hope  of  early  Christianity  leads  to  caution  in  the 
formulation  of  Christian  belief.  The  early  Christians  looked 
for  a  speedy  end  of  this  worldly  regime  and  the  miraculous 
establishment  of  a  Kingdom  of  God  from  which  all  evil-doers 
should  be  excluded.  But  nearly  two  thousand  years  have 
passed,  and  this  hope  is  still  unfulfilled.  Shall  we  cling  to  it 
in  spite  of  all  the  evidence  ?  Or  shall  we  recognize  that  this 
particular  form  of  hope  is  not  in  accord  with  what  we  know  of 
God's  dealings  with  men  ?  The  New  Testament  eschatology, 
however,  is  so  closely  bound  up  with  the  New  Testament  behef 
in  resurrection  that  we  cannot  discredit  the  one  without  its 
affecting  the  other. 

The  real  meaning  of  the  primitive  Christian  eschatology. — 
Modern  preaching  often  fails  to  do  justice' to  the  early  belief 
in  the  Kingdom  of  God.  We  need  to  recall  that  for  the 
primitive  church  it  meant  the  establishment  of  a  righteous 
social  order  on  this  earth.      Originally  it  was  expected  that 


-    SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      539 

all  followers  of  Jesus  would  live  until  he  returned.  It  was 
only  when  death  overtook  some  that  the  question  of  the 
resurrection  was  discussed.  To  the  query  as  to  whether  those 
who  had  died  were  to  lose  their  rights  in  the  Kingdom  the 
answer  was  given  that  the  dead  should  have  their  bodies 
restored  to  them  at  the  time  of  the  great  consummation,  so 
that  they  might  participate  in  the  joys  of  the  Kingdom.  As 
time  went  on  and  the  expected  catastrophe  did  not  take  place,, 
Christianity  gradually  developed  the  idea  of  heaven,  with 
which  we  are  familiar,  and  abandoned  the  social  hope  of  the 
early  Christians. 

Modem  developments. — Today  we  are  ceasing  to  place 
so  much  emphasis  on  the  mediaeval  conception  of  heaven, 
but  we  are  beginning  to  emphasize  the  social  hope,  which  was 
so  important  in  the  thinking  of  early  Christians.  In  the 
"social  gospel"  of  today  we  are  recovering  an  aspect  of 
the  primitive  gospel  which  has  been  largely  forgotten.  Thus 
the  lessened  emphasis  on  details  of  the  heavenly  life  is  accom- 
panied by  a  great  revival  of  the  social  hope.  This  positive 
aspect  of  the  modern  situation  should  be  appreciated.  The 
"religion  of  the  Spirit"  will  lay  much  stress  on  the  possible 
elimination  of  evil  from  our  earthly  life  through  the  strength 
of  Christian  faith  and  activity.  When  we  remember  that  the 
religion  of  the  prophets  of  Israel  was  developed  in  relation 
to  a  social  and  political  hope  rather  than  in  relation  to  the 
problem  of  personal  immortality,  we  may  see  that  there  are 
as  yet  unrealized  possibilities  in  this  aspect  of  Christian 
thinking. 

The  larger  hope. — But  death  is  so  universal  a  fact  that 
no  one  can  escape  the  necessity  of  thinking  concerning  it.  It 
is  important  here  to  recognize  that  negative  dogmatism  is 
scientifically  as  unjustified  as  is  positive  dogmatism.  If  it  be 
true  that  the  exigencies  of  modern  scientific  thinking  make  it 
difficult  to  affirm  the  concrete  details  of  the  older  resurrection 
faith,  we  are  not  therefore  compelled  to  draw  the  worst  possible 


540        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

conclusions  from  our  inability  to  prove  anything  tangible.  It 
is  quite  as  reasonable  to  believe  that  death  may  lead  to  some- 
thing better  than  we  hope  for  as  it  is  to  fear  that  it  may  lead 
to  something  worse.  Christian  faith  has  here  to  draw  the 
legitimate  inferences  from  its  doctrine  of  divine  providence. 
We  may  trust  God  for  the  sequel  to  death  as  we  trust  him 
for  the  present  life.  From  this  point  of  view  the  various 
theories  of  men  concerning  the  future  are  symbolic  of  the 
trustworthy  instincts  of  the  soul.  We  have  a  right  to  con- 
struct the  best  possible  picture  of  the  future,  recognizing  that 
in  so  doing  we  are  simply  continuing  the  Spiritual  interpre- 
tations which  find  expression  in  other  aspects  of  Christian 
faith. 

Literature. — Interest  in  the  problem  of  immortality  today  is  primarily 
psychological  and  philosophical.  The  history  of  religious  thought  on  the 
subject  is  given  in  detail  in  Salmond,  The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Immor- 
tality (New  York :  Scribner,  1896) .  William  Adams  Brown  has  furnished 
a  readable  popular  survey  of  the  history  of  thinking  on  the  subject  in 
The  Christian  Hope  (New  York:  Scribner,  191 2),  which  furnishes 
a  full  and  excellent  bibliography  on  the  subject.  The  IngersoU  lectures 
delivered  at  Harvard  reflect  various  aspects  of  thought  in  both  ancient 
and  modern  times.  Especially  suggestive  are  James,  Human  Immor- 
tality (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1898);  Osier,  Science  and 
Immortality  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1904);  and  Fiske,  Life 
Everlasting  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1900). 

The  Society  for  Psychical  Research  has  for  some  years  been  attempt- 
ing to  discover  whether  alleged  spirit  communications  furnish"  tangible 
evidence  of  continued  existence  after  death.  The  results  are  meager 
and  unsatisfactory.  Myers,  Human  Personality  and  Its  Survival  of 
Bodily  Death  (New  York:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1903),  gives  an 
optimistic  interpretation,  which  should  be  balanced  by  a  negatively 
critical  study  such  as  Tanner,  Studies  in  Spiritism  (New  York:  Appleton, 
1910). 

The  specifically  religious  interests  are  represented  by  many  popular 
books,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  Fosdick,  The  Assurance  of 
Immortality  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1913);  Gordon,  The  Witness  to 
Immortality  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1893);  and  Crothers,  The 
Endless  Life  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1905). 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      541 
IV.      THE   TRUTH    OF   CHRISTIAN   BELIEFS 

Because  of  his  education  and  his  personal  experience  the 
individual  Christian  is  usually  content  to  let  the  vindication 
of  his  behefs  be  found  in  the  practical  satisfaction  which 
these  bring  in  his  life.  But  whenever  critical  thinking  is 
encountered  either  in  the  course  of  one's  own  wider  study  or 
in  the  utterances  of  men  who  doubt  the  adequacy  of  Chris- 
tian beliefs,  it  becomes  necessary  to  examine  more  closely 
the  grounds  of  our  convictions.  This  critical  justification  of 
faith  is  the  task  of  apologetics. 

The  defense  brought  by  the  authority  t3rpe  of  theology. — 
Where  the  task  of  theology  is  conceived  to  be  that  of 
reproducing  the  authorized  doctrines,  the  primary  apologetic 
task  is  to  vindicate  the  authoritative  character  of  the  source 
from  which  doctrines  are  derived.  The  revelation  to  which 
appeal  is  made  must  be  shown  to  be  authentic;  and  this 
authenticity  is  in  the  last  analysis  to  be  established  by  an 
undoubted  sign  of  its  divine  origin.  Miracles,  fulfilment  of 
prophecy,  and  a  supernatural  inspiration  of  the  biblical  writers 
were  the  main  attestations  according  to  ancient  and  mediaeval 
writers.  Protestant  orthodoxy  laid  especial  stress  on  the 
doctrine  of  inspiration. 

The  survival  of  older  apologetic  interests.— If,  however, 
the  task  of  theology  be  defined  as  we  have  urged  in  the 
preceding  pages,  the  task  of  apologetics  is  changed.  But 
the  age-long  emphasis  on  the  fundamentals  of  the  older  apolo- 
getics leads  one  naturally  to  fix  upon  these  older  interests 
as  if  they  were  primary.  It  is  taken  for  granted  that  we  must 
continue  to  defend  as  fundamentals  the  historicity  of  miracles, 
the  fulfilment  of  prophecy,  and  the  idea  of  supernatural 
inspiration. 

But  what  is  the  relation  of  modern  religious  experience  to 
these  matters?  Does  our  faith  actually  rest  on  miracles 
today  ?  Or  are  we  attempting  to  defend  miracles  by  appeal 
to  something  more  primary?     It  is  interesting  to  see  how 


542         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

former  arguments  on  this  question  are  now  completely 
reversed.  Whereas  men  used  to  be  told  that  the  miracles  of 
Jesus  proved  his  divinity,  we  are  now  informed  that  we  ma,y 
believe  the  miracles  because  of  our  prior  belief  in  the  extraordi- 
nary nature  of  Jesus.  Whereas  men  used  to  feel  that  the  mere 
presence  of  a  statement  in  the  Bible  guaranteed  its  truth, 
today  we  hear  such  statements  as,  ''A  thing  is  not  true  because 
it  is  in  the  Bible;  it  is  in  the  Bible  because  it  is  true."  If 
miracles  have  to  be  "proved"  to  a  modern  mind,  the  argu- 
ment from  miracles  has  lost  its  primary  value.  Instead,  then, 
of  taking  the  apologetic  items  of  former  theological  treatises 
ready  at  hand,  the  student  should  learn  to  ask  the  "previous 
question,"  What  are  the  real  foundations  of  modern  faith? 
Having  discovered  these,  we  may  then  ask  why  we  may  con- 
tinue to  regard  them  as  reliable. 

The  modem  conception  of  apologetics. — Wider  historical 
knowledge  has  shown  that  those  supernatural  aspects  of 
religion  .which  Christianity  has  emphasized  in  the  past  are 
not  peculiar  to  Christianity.  Other  religions  also  have 
their  miracles,  their  inspired  literature,  their  men  with 
occult  powers  of  knowledge.  It  is  not  very  difficult  to 
show  the  critical  difficulties  in  the  way  of  accepting  these 
things  at  face  value  in  the  case  of  other  religions.  But  the 
very  knowledge  that  this  is  so  makes  one  more  exacting  in 
regard  to  the  evidence  for  similar  elements  in  Christian  tradi- 
tion. The  fact  that  comparisons  can  be  made  leads  one  to 
feel  that  the  real  significance  of  Christianity  is  to  be  found, 
not  in  these  vulnerable  matters,  but  rather  in  the  spiritual 
content  which  men  recognize  to  be  of  value  for  its  own  sake. 

But  the  moment  one  ceases  to  attempt  to  vindicate  the 
"authority"  of  an  entire  system  of  theology  the  method  of 
apologetics  changes.  One  comes  to  see  that  the  inductive 
method  requires  us  first  to  ask.  What  are  the  real  difficulties 
which  people  feel  today?  We  can  then  deal  with  these 
difficulties  on  their  own  merits.     It  is  evident  that  from  this 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      543 

point  of  view  the  task  of  apologetics  cannot  be  distinguished 
sharply  from  that  of  constructive  theology.  We  have  defined 
the  task  of  theology  as  the  attempt  to  think  over  our  religious 
inheritance  in  the  light  of  present  problems,  so  as  to  formulate 
for  today  and  to  transmit  to  the  coming  generation  an  expres- 
sion of  faith  vitally  related  to  our  actual  life.  Into  this  con- 
structive task  apologetic  questions  inevitably  enter.  Still, 
there  are  some  aspects  of  modern  religious  thinking  which 
deserve  special  treatment.  We  may  briefly  call  attention  to 
some  of  the  most  urgent  of  these. 

I.   THE  SO-CALLED   "CONFLICT  BETWEEN  SCIENCE  AND  RELIGION" 

We  are  today  passing  out  of  the  period  in  which  science 
and  religion  were  felt  to  be  hostile  to  each  other.  Still,  there  is 
much  popular  uneasiness  on  this  point.  It  is  well  known, 
and  usually  frankly  admitted  by  theologians,  that  modern 
astronomy,  geology,  biology,  and  critical  history  set  forth 
conclusions  which  conflict  with  biblical  statements.  When 
one  recalls  the  important  place  in  the  traditional  theological 
system  occupied  by  Adam,  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  the 
modern  doctrine  of  evolution  causes  consternation  to  one 
who  thinks  consistently  in  terms  of  orthodox  doctrine. 
Again,  science  sets  miracle  aside,  for  the  reason  that  miracle 
explains  nothing  so  far  as  scientific  control  of  events  is  con- 
cerned. In  short,  the  tendency  of  science  is  to  eliminate  from 
our  thinking  the  idea  of  supernatural  interventions.  In  so 
far  as  one's  religion  is  conceived  in  terms  of  supernaturalism 
science  is  continually  invading  the  religious  realm. 

The  danger  of  an  apologetic  which  seeks  to  refute  science. 
— ^The  first  tendency  when  one's  faith  is  attacked  is  to  repudi- 
ate the  arguments  of  the  opponent.  Apologetic  writers  often 
try  to  disprove  the  contentions  of  science,  so  as  to  retain  the 
belief  which  was  threatened.  But  nothing  is  so  fatal  to 
one's  prestige  as  to  engage  ignorantly  in  debate  with  an 
expert.     The  student  should  recognize  that  in  his  own  field 


544        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

a  scientist's  statements  are  based  on  careful,  critical  investiga- 
tion. The  only  man  who  can  successfully  debate  with  a 
scientist  is  one  who  knows  with  equal  accuracy  the  field 
in  question.  Many  of  the  well-meant  defenses  of  traditional 
belief  against  new  scientific  ideas  have  recoiled  on  theology 
with  fatal  consequences.  Take,  for  example,  the  many 
attempts  to  '' harmonize"  Genesis  and  geology.  It  does  not 
take  much  acumen  to  discover  that  often  a  harmonizer  is 
willing  to  distort  both  the  plain  meaning  of  Genesis  and  the 
theories  of  geology  in  order  to  "save  the  face"  of  theology. 
Such  distortion  is  odious  to  every  lover  of  truth;  and  those 
who  have  been  guilty  of  it  have  created  a  deep  prejudice  in  the 
minds  of  scientific  men  against  theology.  While  many 
Christians  may  have  been  emotionally  soothed  by  superficial 
rhetoric  on  these  themes,  yet  the  damage  done  has  been 
great.  It  is  scarcely  too  much  to  say  that  scientific  men 
today  frequently  believe  that  a  theologian  cares  more  for 
superficial  conformity  and  rhetorical  adjustment  than  for 
the  truth. 

Every  theological  student  ought  to  know  at  first  hand  some 
branch  of  science.  Fortunately  our  colleges  are  more  and 
more  insisting  on  an  adequate  acquaintance  with  the  achieve- 
ments of  science.  Theologians  in  the  past  have  done  cruel 
wrong  to  these  seekers  after  truth.  Attempting  to  maintain 
the  mediaeval  superiority  of  theology  over  all  branches  of 
learning,  in  an  age  which  no  longer  looks  to  theolog}^  for  final 
information  on  scientific  subjects,  Christianity  has  put  itself 
in  a  false  light.  Nothing  is  more  needed  today  than  a  frank 
admission  of  our  faults  in  the  past  and  a  determined  purpose 
to  be  fair  and  truthful  in  spirit.  In  an  age  which  owes  so 
much  to  science  a  theology  which  depreciates  science  is 
playing  a  losing  game. 

The  need  of  cultivating  the  scientific  spirit. — There  is  no 
better  defense  of  any  theory  than  to  show  that  it  rests  on  a  full 
and  accurate  examination  of  the  facts.     It  ought  to  be  evi- 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      545 

dent  to  everyone  that  knowledge  of  facts  is  constantly- 
improving  as  humanity  advances.  We  today  know  many 
things  concerning  which  men  were  ignorant  two  thousand 
years  ago.  Instead  of  assuming  at  the  start  that  a  doctrine 
which  was  formulated  in  the  past  is  absolutely  true  and  has 
only  to  be  defended  against  ''attacks,"  we  ought  first  to  make 
sure  of  our  facts.  If  this  investigation  results  in  the  modifica- 
tion of  the  doctrine  in  question,  it  is  far  better  to  make  the 
modification  than  to  conjure  up  clever  arguments  which  con- 
ceal the  truth.  If  once  we  shall  have  come  to  the  point  of 
being  willing  to  go  wherever  the  facts  lead,  no  matter  what 
becomes  of  our  doctrines,  we  shall  occupy  a  position  far 
stronger  than  that  of  the  current  popular  "defense."  The- 
ology has  so  long  been  accustomed  to  rely  on  external  authority 
that  it  is  necessary  to  exercise  particular  care  in  order  to  meet 
modern  questions  in  a  way  which  will  convince  men  accus- 
tomed to  scientific  exactness. 

The  rights  of  religious  faith. — When  scientific  research  has 
done  all  within  its  power,  there  remains  the  realm  in  which 
exact  knowledge  is  impossible.  Here  conjecture  and  hypothe- 
sis supplement  the  verified  conclusions  of  science.  Not  only 
does  intellectual  curiosity  impel  one  to  imagine  possible  con- 
ditions in  this  larger  world;  practical  considerations  also 
demand  some  hypothesis  as  a  basis  of  action.  Thus  all 
sciences  have  their  philosophical  theories  on  the  basis  of  which 
practical  attitudes  are  possible.  The  assumptions  of  the 
indestructibility  of  matter  and  of  the  uniformity  of  nature  are 
hypotheses  which  serve  to  guide  practical  experiments  and  to 
establish  confidence  in  the  reliability  of  such  experiments. 
The  scientist  "trusts"  nature  to  behave  in  certain  ways. 

In  similar  fashion  the  practical  spiritual  interests  of  men 
demand  faith  that  the  universe  is  of  such  a  character  as  to 
justify  those  higher  spiritual  activities  which  find  expression 
in  religious  and  moral  life.  Strictly  speaking,  one  cannot 
"prove"  the  existence  of  God.     But  neither  can  one  disprove 


546        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

it.  One  may  decline  to  pass  beyond  the  limits  of  what  science 
may  say  concerning  the  world.  But  if  so,  one  should  refrain 
from  anti-theistic  hypotheses  as  well  as  from  theistic  theories. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  interests  of  life  are  too  complex  and  too 
big  to  be  satisfied  without  recourse  to  some  kind  of  "faith." 
The  Christian  has  only  to  ask  whether  his  particular  extra- 
scientific  philosophy  is  as  respectable  and  as  compatible  with 
what  we  surely  know  as  any  other  type  of  speculative  thinking. 

Some  necessary  distinctions. — ^Much  confusion  is  often 
caused  by  failure  to  understand  just  what  the  limits  of  criti- 
cism are.  To  challenge  a  belief  is  easy  in  any  realm.  One 
may  challenge  the  doctrine  of  the  bacterial  origin  of  certain 
diseases  or  the  doctrine  that  there  is  a  real  material  world. 
But  a  challenge  is  of  little  significance  unless  it  is  followed 
by  some  explanation  which  is  more  adequate  than  the  one 
which  is  questioned.  The  theologian  is  well  aware  of  critical 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  a  complete  demonstration  of  the 
truth  of  many  of  the  doctrines  of  Christian  faith.  He  should 
welcome  any  discussion  which  helps  to  an  understanding  of 
these  difficulties.  But  he  has  also  the  right  to  demand  that 
one  who  objects  to  his  solution  of  the  questions  at  issue  shall 
have  thought  as  carefully  as  he  has  himself  and  be  ready  to  pro- 
pose an  alternative  to  the  theological  doctrine  which  shall  be  as 
respectable  intellectually  from  all  points  of  view.  Many 
so-called  "scientific"  objections,  when  carefully  analyzed, 
betray  too  superficial  knowledge  of  all  the  problems  involved 
to  deserve  serious  question.  Here  one  might  well  study  the 
careful  analysis  given  by  Romanes,  on  the  basis  of  what  he 
calls  impartial  (as  contrasted  with  prejudiced)  agnosticism, 
in  his  Thoughts  on  Religioti.  He  felt  that  his  earlier  objec- 
tions to  religious  beHefs  had  been  due  to  superficial  considera- 
tions. 

Another  important  distinction  which  should  be  made  is 
between  the  purpose  of  science  and  the  purpose  of  religion. 
Science  is  concerned  to  interpret  reality  in  terms  of  exact 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      547 

cause  and  effect,  so  as  to  be  able  to  control  the  processes  of 
nature  mechanically.  The  more  exactly  mechanical  its  for- 
mulas are  the  more  "exact"  is  the  science.  Thus  there  is  the 
constant  pressure  to  include  as  much  as  possible  under  the 
laws  of  physical  activity.  A  world  completely  mechanized 
would  be  a  world  completely  explained,  so  far  as  science  is 
concerned.  Religion,  on  the  other  hand,  is  concerned  to 
interpret  the  world  so  as  to  emphasize  those  aspects  of  reality 
which  justify  man  in  his  desire  to  establish  relations  of  trust 
and  love  and  moral  confidence  between  himself  and  the  world- 
process.  Spiritual  meanings  are  of  supreme  importance  for 
the  theologian;  they  lie  outside  the  realm  of  the  scientist's 
particular  purpose.  Now,  the  scientist  is  likely  to  have 
only  his  technical  aims  in  mind  in  his  attacks  on  religion. 
He  objects  to  religious  formulations  because  they  do  not  sig- 
nify anything  for  scientific  purposes.  But  the  obvious 
answer  to  this  objection  is  that  religion  is  using  its  doctrines, 
not  for  scientiiic,  but  for  religious  purposes.  Theological 
statements,  like  literary  or  artistic  creations,  are  to  be  evalu- 
ated by  asking  whether  they  promote  the  rightful  interests 
of  the  spiritual  life  of  man.  The  only  requirement  which 
science  has  a  right  to  make  is  that  these  statements  shall  be 
such  as  not  to  compel  a  man  to  be  untrue  to  the  requirements 
of  scientific  honesty.  In  short,  hypotheses  and  symbolic 
statements  are  entirely  legitimate  so  long  as  they  are  com- 
patible with  scientific  veracity.  They  need  not  conform  to 
the  norms  of  technical  science,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
they  are  intended  for  another  purpose.  If  it  be  granted  that 
man  rightly  demands  a  spiritual  interpretation  of  his  environ- 
ment as  well  as  knowledge  of  the  technique  of  mechanical 
control,  a  theology  which  proceeds  by  the  methods  urged 
in  the  foregoing  pages  ought  not  to  have  great  difficulty  in 
coming  to  terms  with  a  scientifically  open-minded  science. 

Literature. — An  excellent  survey  of  the  "conflict"  between  religious 
doctrines  and  scientific  discoveries  is  furnished  by  White,  A  History  of 


548        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology  in  Christendom,  2  vols.  (New  York: 
Appleton,  1898).  Suggestive  treatments  of  the  problem  are  Boutroux, 
Science  et  religion  dans  la  philosophic  contemporaine  (Paris:  Flammarion, 
1908;  English  translation  by  Nield,  Science  and  Religion  in  Contempo- 
raneous Philosophy  [London:  Duckworth,  1909]);  Wa.vd,  Naturalism  and 
Agnosticism,  2  vols.  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1899);  Romanes,  Thoughts 
on  Religion,  2d  ed.  (Chicago:  Open  Court  Pub.  Co.,  1895) ;  Otto,  Natural- 
istische  und  religiose  Weltansicht  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1904;  2d  ed.,  1909; 
English  translation  by  Thomson,  Naturalism  and  Religion  [New  York: 
Putnam,  1907]);  G.  B.  Foster,  The  Finality  of  the  Christian  Religion, 
chaps,  iii-vi  (Chicago:   The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1906). 

-^  2.    THE  ONTOLOGICAL  PROBLEM 

Serious  difficulty  is  caused  for  religious  thinking  by  the 
fact  that  critical  epistemology  seems  to  make  impossible 
the  affirmation  of  "reality"  in  the  older  sense  of  the  term. 
The  scientific  spirit  involves  a  radical  modification  of  tra- 
ditional realism.  The  scientist  today  regards  his  statements 
as  "working  hypotheses"  rather  than  as  realistic  descriptions. 
He  values  them  because  of  their  practical  efficiency  in  ena- 
bling him  to  deal  with  the  world  in  which  he  lives.  He  may 
find  symbolic  representations  actually  more  efficient  than 
descriptive  language.  For  example,  mathematical  formulas 
may  be  preferable  to  descriptive  statements.  The  scientist 
has  learned  to  combine  an  ontological  agnosticism  with  a 
practically  optimistic  method  of  trusting  in  "hypotheses." 

The  objective  significance  of  a  tenable  hypothesis. — ^It  is 
important  for  the  student  to  recognize  that  a  hypothesis  is 
not  merely  a  mental  creation.  A  hypothesis  is  an  instru- 
ment for  exploring  the  reahty  of  our  environment.  If  it  is  a 
hypothesis  which  "works,"  it  actually  enables  us  to  establish 
definite  relations  with  our  environment  and  to  receive  into 
our  experience  the  increment  which  comes  from  such  rela- 
tionship. The  theory  of  gravitation  is  a  "hypothesis,"  but  it 
is  a  means  of  enabling  us  to  deal  definitely  and  consistently 
with  the  "real"  world.  In  short,  there  is  an  ontological 
reference  in  any  hypothesis  which  is  found  to  be  tenable  on 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      549 

critical  grounds.  To  be  sure,  we  do  not  have  the  older  sort 
of  static  and  finished  ontology;  but  neither  is  the  content  of 
a  hypothesis  as  "subjective"  a  thing  as  it  is  often  supposed  to 
be  by  those  who  distrust  the  empirical  spirit. 

The  problem  of  religious  certainty. — It  must  be  admitted 
that  this  attitude  is  very  different  from  that  of  traditional 
theology.  The  "certainties"  derived  from  revelation  have 
been  sharply  contrasted  with  the  uncertainties  of  human 
thinking.  The  positive  vigor  of  religious  faith  has  been 
assumed  to  be  indissolubly  connected  with  rehance  on  an 
infallible  declaration  of  God.  In  contrast  to  this  position, 
the  proposal  to  exercise  a  practical  trust  in  "religious  hy- 
potheses" seems  to  those  who  have  been  educated  in  the 
traditional  way  to  be  weak  and  unsatisfactory.  Such  hypoth- 
eses are  frequently  represented  as  mere  human  creations. 
Religious  convictions,  it  is  held,  should  embody  eternal, 
unchangeable  truth. 

The  type  of  assurance  compatible  with  the  scientific 
spirit.— If  it  be  realized  that  a  "hypothesis"  concerning  God 
may  be  the  most  fruitful  practical  means  of  establishing  real 
relationship  between  the  life  of  man  and  that  mysterious  ulti- 
mate which  we  call  "  God,"  theology  will  be  relieved  of  a  bur- 
den which  is  fast  becoming  unendurable.  There  is  no  more 
fundamental  need  today  than  that  of  a  way  of  formulating 
religious  faith  which  shall  allow  men  who  cannot  honestly  start 
from  the  "  absolute  certainties  "  provided  by  the  older  theology 
to  work  their  way  into  a  vital  religious  life,  building  up  their 
own  ideas  as  they  go  along.  We  readily  admit  that  imper- 
fect conceptions  of  God  in  the  past  have  been  stepping-stones 
to  a  richer  and  fuller  religious  life,  with  its  better  theo- 
logical conceptions.  May  not  tentative  theories  held  by  men 
today  be  also  a  means  of  appreciating  "objective"  reality? 
As  experience  grows  our  hypotheses  also  develop.  But  at 
every  point  in  the  development  we  are  actually  estabHshing 
some  sort  of  relationship  with  the  universe  in  which  we  must 


550        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

live.  In  the  place  of  the  older  kind  of  ''assurance,"  which 
declared  that  God's  absolute  word  had  been  proclaimed  to  us 
in  final  form,  we  must  develop  a  type  of  assurance  which  looks 
confidently  toward  the  establishment  of  truer  dynamic  rela- 
tionships with  God  through  the  practical  experience  of  using 
the  best  conceptions  we  have,  while  striving  always  for  better 
ones  if  these  are  to  be  found.  It  is  the  duty  of  theologians 
today  to  show  the  positive  side  of  this  experimental  attitude. 
Its  negative  aspects  as  contrasted  with  the  older  type  of 
"assurance"  have  been  so  emphasized  both  by  orthodox 
theologians,  and  more  recently  by  Ritschlians,  that  apologetics 
has  been  placed  in  a  difficult  position.  What  is  worse,  mul- 
titudes of  modern  men  who  cannot  honestly  assume  the 
attitude  of  "absolute"  certainty  supposedly  demanded  by 
Christianity  have  felt  that  they  have  no  place  in  the  modern 
church. 

If  the  method  of  appeal  to  an  infallible  revelation  be 
abandoned,  all  doctrines  must  be  related  to  human  experience 
for  their  justification.  Now,  experience  is  unceasingly  experi- 
menting— living,  indeed — on  hypotheses  which  have  proved 
their  efficacy  in  human  life;  but  it  is  ever  eager  for  better 
means  of  establishing  vital  relations  to  environment.  This 
quest  for  larger  contact  with  reahty  has  its  religious  value. 
The  religion  of  the  inquiring  mind  has  in  the  past  been  depre- 
ciated as  compared  with  the  religion  of  dogmatic  certainty. 
The  impression  has  been  created  that  the  attitude  of  ques- 
tioning is  incompatible  with  a  strong  religious  faith.  A 
modern  apologetic  should  make  it  clear  that  a  "reality" 
which  is  discovered  in  and  through  experience,  and  which 
although  imperfectly  defined  is  nevertheless  actively  function- 
ing in  human  life,  is  no  less  valuable  than  a  "reality"  which  is 
defined  as  existing  prior  to,  and  independent  of,  experiences. 
More  and  more  shall  we  be  compelled  to  recognize  that  a 
faith  which  is  in  harmony  with  the  general  methods  of  think- 
ing current  today  must  appreciate  the  prophetic  and  vital 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      551 

significance  of  relative  and  imperfect  formulations  of  the 
object  of  religious  quest.  We  are  slowly  developing  a  con- 
ception of  reality  which  makes  possible  the  questionings 
essential  to  scientific  inquiry  along  with  an  experienced 
confidence  in  the  practical  sufficiency  of  symbolic  representa- 
tions of  ultimate  realities. 

Literature. — This  problem  requires  a  knowledge  of  critical  episte- 
mology.  Of  especial  suggest iveness  are  Baldwin,  Thought  and  Things,  or 
Genetic  Logic  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1906),  and  A  Genetic  Theory  of 
Reality  (New  York:  Putnam,  1915);  Royce,  The  World  and  the  Indi- 
vidual (New  York:  Macmillan,  1901  and  1902);  Ward,  Naturalism  and 
Agnosticism  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1899);  James,  Pragmatism  (New 
York:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1907);  Perry,  Present  Philosophical 
Tefidencies  (New  York:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1912);  Mackintosh, 
The  Problem  of  Knowledge  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1915);  Hockmg, 
The  Meaning  of  God  in  Human  Experience,  Part  IV  (New  Haven:  Yale 
University  Press,  19 12). 

3.  THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

It  has  been  assumed  in  the  past  that  any  mere  "natural" 
religion  is  totally  inadequate  because  of  the  frailty  of  human 
nature  and  its  liability  to  error.  Christian  doctrine  has  thus 
represented  the  fundamentals  of  our  religion  as  having  a 
superhuman  source.  The  origins  of  man  and  of  the  world  in 
which  he  lives  have  been  referred  to  special  activities  of  God. 
The  means  of  salvation  have  been  defined  in  terms  of  miracle. 
Christ  has  been  valued  primarily  because  of  his  non-human, 
divine  origin.  Regeneration  has  been  looked  upon  as  a 
miraculous  transformation  rather  than  as  a  development  of 
character.  The  means  of  grace,  baptism,  the  Lord's  Supper, 
the  Bible,  have  been  declared  to  be  efficacious  because  of 
their  divine  origin.  Thus  the  validity  of  Christianity  has 
seemed  to  rest  on  the  proved  miraculousness  of  its  origin  and 
nature. 

The  modern  discrediting  of  miracles. — One  of  the  striking 
aspects  of  modern  religious  thought  is  the  widespread  departure 


552        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

from  the  strict  supernaturalistic  view.  Formerly  the  fact  of 
the  presentation  of  miracles  in  the  Bible  was  held  to  be  a 
strong  evidence  of  its  truth.  Today  many  of  these  miracles 
are  seriously  questioned  and  elaborate  "proofs"  of  their 
probability  have  to  be  devised.  The  doctrine  of  evolution  has 
led  us  to  think  of  the  world  in  which  we  live  and  of  the  history 
of  man  in  terms  of  a  long  and  gradual  development  rather 
than  as  originating  through  a  special  divine  act.  Attention  is 
being  more  and  more  directed  to  the/  human  life  of  Jesus, 
and  there  is  less  and  less  insistence  on  the  necessity  of  the 
virgin  birth  as  an  element  in  the  value  of  Jesus  for  us.  Bap- 
tism and  the  Lord's  Supper  in  large  areas  of  modern  Protes- 
tantism have  ceased  to  be  regarded  as  miraculous  channels  of 
special  grace,  and  are  interpreted  as  ritualistic  activities  with 
profound  psychological  suggestiveness.  In  short,  there  is 
growing  up  a  type  of  religious  belief  which  does  not  need  to 
affirm  miracles  in  the  older  sense  of  the  term. 

Can  we  draw  a  line  between  the  natural  and  the  super- 
natural?— The  presupposition  underlying  the  defense  of 
miracles  is  that  there  is  a  virtue  in  the  so-called  supernatural 
which  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  so-called  natural.  This 
presupposition  needs  to  be  critically  examined.  Let  the 
student  make  out  a  list  of  the  most  valuable  items  in  the 
Christianity  which  he  knows  and  loves.  Let  him  then  inquire 
whether  these  are  all  located  in  the  realm  of  the  "super- 
natural." He  will  perhaps  be  surprised  to  discover  the  large 
significance  of  the  "natural"  in  his  religious  life.  Again, 
let  him  make  out  a  list  of  the  defensible  miracles,  and  let  him 
ask  how  many  of  these  actually  affect  his  religious  faith. 
Such  a  practical  test  would  reveal  the  fact  that  religious 
values  are  not  at  all  identical  with  distinctly  supernatural 
interventions.  There^are  many  items  treasured  by  faith 
which  receive  a  "natural"  explanation,  and  there  are  many 
recorded  miracles  concerning  which  faith  is  religiously  indiffer- 
ent.    Now,  since  the  religious  soul  recognizes  God's  activity 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      553 

in  all  that  is  of  religious  significance,  faith  finds  God  in  the 
so-called  natural  as  well  as  in  the  so-called  supernatural.  To 
draw  a  distinct  line  between  the  two  realms  is  impracticable. 

Emphasis  on  quality  rather  than  origin. — If  we  are  to  be 
true  to  the  demands  of  actual  religious  experience,  we  should 
give  our  primary  attention  to  the  identification  of  what  is  of 
value  for  our  faith  rather  than  to  the  attempt  to  vindicate  non- 
natural  origins.  Instead  of  attempting  to  prove  that  the 
entire  Bible  has  an  origin  different  from  that  of  any  other 
literature,  we  ought  rather  to  make  sure  of  the  value  of  biblical 
religion  for  actual  religious  life.  Before  deciding  that  a 
defense  of  a  given  account  of  a  miraculous  event  should  be 
undertaken  one  should  first  ask  whether  the  event  is  of 
vital  significance  for  faith  today.  It  is  poor  strategy  to  pre- 
pare an  elaborate  defense  of  positions  which  are  of  no  vital 
consequence. 

When  once  it  is  recognized  that  we  do  not  need  to  draw 
any  dividing  line  between  the  "natural"  and  the  "super- 
natural" realm,  and  when  it  is  further  recognized  that  the 
question  as  to  whether  an  event  is  miraculous  or  not  is  of 
secondary  importance,  since  faith  sees  the  activity  of  God  in 
all  that  touches  our  spiritual  welfare,  it  will  no  longer  be  felt 
necessary  to  validate  Christianity  primarily  by  proving  its 
supernatural  origin.  We  are  already  accustomed  in  Protes- 
tantism to  the  valuation  of  many  aspects  of  our  religion  in 
terms  of  a  protest  against  Catholic  supernaturalism.  We 
feel  that  religious  faith  is  better  if  we  deny  that  baptism  super- 
naturally  effects  a  change  of  character.  We  insist  that  the 
bread  and  wine  of  the  Lord's  Supper  do  not  undergo  any 
miraculous  transformation.  We  are  becoming  accustomed 
to  the  use  of  the  Bible  as  a  book  of  religious  experience  rather 
than  as  a  supernaturally  produced  literature.  We  are  laying 
more  stress  on  the  inner  life  of  Jesus  and  less  on  the  circum- 
stances of  his  birth.  Gradually  our  confidence  is  being  shifted 
from  the  exceptional  and  inexplicable  to  the  normal.     It  is 


554        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

necessary  today  to  grant  differences  of  opinion  concerning 
many  of  the  miracles  of  the  Bible  and  concerning  the  possi- 
bility of  a  supernatural  element  in  connection  with  some  of  the 
factors  in  Christian  salvation.  It  is  apologetically  a  stronger 
position  to  show  that  religious  values  are  not  necessarily  de- 
pendent on  a  supernaturalistic  philosophy  than  it  is  to  at- 
tempt to  assert  supernaturalism  all  along  the  line. 

The  real  religious  interest. — The  crucial  point  in  the  discus- 
sion lies  in  the  desire  of  the  religious  soul  to  affirm  the  activity 
of  God  in  the  world  and  in  human  experience.  In  so  far  as 
what  is  "natural"  is  viewed  as  godless  it  becomes  essential  to 
emphasize  a  ''supernatural."  But  if,  as  is  the  case  in  much 
modern  thought,  the  religious  uplift  of  man  through  faith's 
contact  with  the  unseen  is  regarded  as  a  natural  and  normal 
development  of  experience,  religion  may  find  abundant  ground 
in  the  "natural"  world  for  affirming  the  presence  of  God. 
If  the  abundant  rights  of  religious  faith  are  vindicated  in  the 
"natural"  world,  the  defense  of  the  "supernatural"  becomes 
superfluous. 

Literature. — The  critical  difficulties  in  the  way  of  affirming  a  miracle 
if  one  has  once  come  to  doubt  it  were  stated  in  classic  form  by  Hume 
in  1748  in  his  famous  essay  Of  Miracles.  The  philosophical  and  religious 
objections  to  miracles  were  forcibly  urged  by  Spinoza  in  his  Tractatus 
theologico-politicus  (1670).  As  the  empirical  spirit  of  Hume  has  become 
more  widespread,  the  cogency  of  his  criticism  is  generally  recognized, 
though  at  the  same  time  his  failure  to  do  justice  to  religious  interests  is 
seen. 

Good  popular  treatments  of  the  subject  are:  Wendland,  Miracles 
and  Christianity  (New  York:  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  191 1;  translated  by 
H.  R.  Mackintosh  from  the  German,  Der  Wunderglaube  im  Christentutn 
[Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1910]);  Gordon,  Religion  and 
Miracle  {Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1909);  Whiton,  Miracles  and  the 
Supernatural  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1903). 

The  problem  of  miracles  has  recently  received  much  attention  by 
German  scholars.  Critical  studies  have  been  made  by  Herrmann, 
Ofenharung  und  Wunder  (Giessen:  Topelmann,  1908);  Rade,  Das 
religiose  Wunder   (Tubingen:    Mohr,    1909);    Hunziger,  Das  Wunder 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      555 

(Leipzig:    Quelle  unci  Meyer,    19 12);    and  Stange,   Christenlum  mid 
moderne  Weltanschauung,  Vol.  II  (Leipzig:   Deichert,  1914). 

4.    THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  ABSOLUTENESS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

It  has  been  assumed  by  theologians  in  the  past  that  Chris- 
tianity is  a  reUgion  of  absolute  truth.  It  has  thus  been  a  part  of 
the  task  of  apologetics  to  prove  the  "finality"  of  the  Christian 
system.  It  has  not  been  deemed  sufficient  to  show  that  Chris- 
tianity has  justified  itself  practically  in  history.  One  must 
attempt  to  show  that  Christianity  can  never  be  superseded. 
Can  we  demonstrate  absoluteness?^To  state  whether  a 
given  ideal  can  or  cannot  be  superseded  would  require  some- 
thing more  than  the  limited  knowledge  which  men  possess. 
Consequently  the  affirmation  of  the  absoluteness  of  Chris- 
tianity is  logically  possible  only  as  one  appeals  to  superhuman 
evidence.  Such  an  appeal  has  been  made  in  two  ways.  The 
character  of  Christianity  has  been  affirmed  to  be  due  to  a 
superhuman  revelation  which,  just  because  it  came  from 
God,  was  freed  from  the  errors  of  human  judgment,  or 
the  truths  of  Christianity  have  been  identified  with  a  tran- 
scendental philosophy  of  the  absolute.  It  is  necessary  to 
examine  these  two  methods  of  proof. 

The  conception  of  revelation  tested  by  historical  fact. — The 
application  of  more  exact  historical  criticism  to  the  Bible  has 
resulted  in  relativizing  the  contents  of  the  Bible.  It  is  a  com- 
monplace of  modern  biblical  interpretation  that  the  concep- 
tions of  the  biblical  writers  are  expressions  of  the  historically 
conditioned  thinking  of  devout  men.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
we  have  to  recognize  the  temporal  and  imperfect  character  of 
many  of  the  aspects  of  biblical  thinking.  To  assert  the 
absoluteness  of  biblical  theology  would  mean,  if  consistently 
carried  out,  the  affirmation  of  the  finality  of  such  bibHcal 
ideas  as  those  concerning  demons  or  the  place  of  the  Jews 
in  general  history  or  eschatology.  But  if  we  admit  the  rela- 
tive character  of  these  ideas,  what  is  to  guarantee  the  absolute 


5S6        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

character  of  other  bibhcal  ideas  ?  Evidently  the  test  em- 
ployed must  be  something  other  than  the  mere  biblical  char- 
acter of  the  idea.  Even  if  present-day  thinking  sees  no 
reason  to  doubt  or  to  modify  these  other  ideas,  we  should 
remember  that  for  centuries  Christian  thinking  saw  no  reason 
to  question  the  accuracy  of  biblical  demonology.  Can  we 
declare  what  future  generations  will  affirm  concerning  doc- 
trines which  seem  to  us  self-evidently  true  ? 

The  appeal  to  a  metaphysical  absolute. — Is  it  not  possible 
to  strip  off  all  those  aspects  of  historical  Christian  beliefs  which 
are  subject  to  the  vicissitudes  of  changing  experience  and  to 
discover  an  unchanging  ^'substance"  which  may  be  pro- 
nounced absolute  ?  This  method  of  apologetic  has  been  much 
in  vogue  since  Hegelianism  aroused  interest  in  the  ideal  of  an 
absolute  idealistic  metaphysics.  If  we  may  conceive  of  his- 
torical movements  as  due  to  the  dynamic  activity  of  the  infinite 
in  the  finite,  we  may  consider  the  finite  in  metaphysical  rather 
than  in  experimental  terms,  and  thus  interpret  it  in  terms  of 
absoluteness. 

But  when  one  attempts  thus  to  get  back  of  the  historical 
and  finite  aspects  of  experience  to  a  supposed  "absolute," 
one  is  compelled  to  pass  from  the  concrete  to  the  abstract. 
Is  religious  faith  satisfied  with  such  abstractions  ?  To 
take  a  single  illustration:  Hegelian  apologetics  admits  that 
the  vicissitudes  of  a  single  human  being,  such  as  Jesus, 
belong  in  the  realm  of  history,  and  as  such  cannot  be  treated 
as  absolute.  It  is  the  idea  of  incarnation  which  is  absolute. 
It  is  the  principle  of  Christ  rather  than  the  person  of  Christ 
which  forms  the  eternal  content  of  Christianity.  Does  not  this 
method  of  absolutizing  a  concrete  figure  of  history  deprive  us 
of  precious  elements  in  our  religious  faith?  Are  nt)t  our 
affections  and  our  devotion  actually  stirred  by  the  concreteness 
of  the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus  rather  than  by  the  abstract 
grandeur  of  the  "principles"  lying  back  of  his  historical 
life? 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      557 

Moreover,  logically  this  method  of  seeking  an  ''absolute" 
defeats  the  apologetic  aim  which  it  proposes  to  satisfy. 
For  the  persistent  apologist  may  discern  universal  "prin- 
ciples" underlying  non-Christian  as  well  as  Christian  history. 
Thus  the  content  of  the  absolute  in  the  last  analysis  must  be 
such  as  to  be  applicable  to  all  history.  In  other  words, 
instead  of  demonstrating  the  absoluteness  of  Christianity  as  a 
historical  religion,  one  would  demonstrate  the  absoluteness 
of  certain  universal  religious  principles  found  in  all  religions. 
One  could  then  only  say  that  in  historical  Christianity  these 
universal  principles  are  more  nearly  realized  than  in  other 
religions.  But  this  would  be  making  the  Christianity  which 
we  know  only  relatively  better  than  other  religions;  and  it 
would  be  confessing  that  a  religion  of  universal  ideas  is 
higher  than  historical  Christianity.  There  are  signs  that  this 
appeal  to  metaphysics  which  was  so  common  fifty  years 
ago  is  now  being  recognized  to  be  unsatisfactory  for  the  reasons 
indicated  above. 

Do  we  want  to  pronounce  final  any  historical  expression  of 
Christianity? — ^It  would  be  well  for  the  student,  before  enga- 
ging in  the  attempt  to  prove  the  absoluteness  of  Christianity, 
to  ask  whether  he  would  like  to  have  the  Christianity  of  the 
present  day  declared  final.  Are  we  willing  to  rest  content 
with  the  beliefs  and  the  practices  which  now  exist  ?  On  the 
contrary,  are  we  not  eagerly  striving  to  correct  some  of  the' 
aspects  of  our  Christianity  which  seem  to  us  to  be  in  need 
of  improvement  ?  But  if  it  is  not  the  Christianity  which  we 
know  which  is  to  be  pronounced  absolute,  what  form  is  to  be 
selected  ?  Has  not  every  period  in  the  history  of  Christianity 
seen  a  dissatisfaction  with  some  aspects  of  religious  belief  and 
practice  and  a  striving  for  reforms  and  advances  ?  Surely 
there  are  aspects  of  New  Testament  Christianity  which  have 
been  outgrown,  and  which  no  one  would  wish  to  reinstate. 
To  canonize  for  all  time  disputes  over  circumcision  or  argu- 
ments over  the  parousia  is  not  to  be  thought   of.     Indeed, 


558        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

was  not  New  Testament  faith  conscious  of  defects  in  existing 
faith  and  practice  just  as  we  today  are  conscious  of  defects 
in  our  own  Christianity  ?  Has  not  the  attempt  to  fix  exactly 
the  content  of  Christianity  always  failed  ?  Can  Catholicism 
make  absolute  its  ideals  ?  Can  any  type  of  Protestantism 
become  universal  ?  Even  if  we  succeed  in  affirming  an  abso- 
luteness, is  it  not  the  absoluteness  of  an  as  yet  unrealized 
ideal  ?  And  can  we  be  sure  that  the  actual  course  of  Chris- 
tianity will  conform  to  this  absolute  ideal  in  the  future  if  it 
has  not  done  so  in  the  course  of  the  centuries  lying  behind  us  ? 
Christianity  as  a  developing  historical  religion. — ^The 
assumption  that  we  may  affirm  finality  rests  on  the  conception 
of  Christianity  as  a  finished  system  of  beliefs  delivered 
authoritatively  in  perfect  form.  But  with  the  conception 
of  evolutioij  we  have  come  to  see  that  there  is  no  such  static 
form  of  Christianity.  Christianity  is  always  in  the  making. 
Instead  of  attempting  to  demonstrate  the  finality  of  its  con- 
tent, we  ought  rather  to  ask  whether  the  present  stage  of  its 
evolution  is  such  as  to  give  faith  in  its  future.  If  it  can  be 
shown  that  Christianity  today  is  alive  to  the  pressing  reli- 
gious and  moral  questions  of  human  life,  and  that  it  is  fur- 
nishing insight  and  power  for  the  solutions  of  those  questions, 
we  may  well  speak  enthusiastically  of  its  future.  But  if  we 
should  discover  that,  instead  of  yearning  forward  toward 
the  spiritual  conflicts  of  the  coming  age,  it  is  trying  to  sur- 
round itself  with  an  armor  of  defensive  dogma,  we  may  well 
be  concerned.  In  a  civilization  that  is  changing  so  rapidly 
as  our  own  absolutes  are  out  of  place.  A  Christianity  which 
can  point  to  its  adaptability,  which  can  look  hopefully  forward 
to  such  changes  as  are  necessary  in  order  that  it  may  play  a 
leading  part  in  the  solution  of  our  spiritual  problems,  is  more 
defensible  than  is  a  Christianity  standing  rigidly  for  the  finality 
of  this  or  that  doctrine  or  practice. 

Literature. — The  problem  is  critically  analyzed  and  discussed  with 
reference  to  modern  conditions  by  G.  B.  Foster,  The  Finality  of  the  Chris- 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      559 

tian  Religion,  chaps,  i  and  ii  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press, 
1906).  The  desire  to  affirm  the  absoluteness  of  Christianity  is  forcibly 
expressed  by  Hunziger,  Probleme  und  Aufgahcn  der  gegenwdrtigen  syste- 
matische  Theologie  (Leipzig:  Boehme,  1909);  and  H.  R.  Mackintosh, 
"Does  the  History  of  Religions  Yield  a  Dogmatic  Theology  ?  "  American 
Journal  of  Theology,  XIH  (October,  1909),  505-19.  Of  great  importance 
is  Troeltsch,  Die  Absolutheit  des  Christentums  und  die  Religionsgeschichte 
(Tubingen:  Mohr,  1901;  2d  ed.,  1912).  See  also  the  article  "Absolut- 
heit des  Christentums"  in  the  encyclopedia  Religion  in  Geschichte  und 
Gegenwart,  I,  cols.  125  fT. 


CHRISTIANITY   AND    OTHER   RELIGIONS 


^ 


A  rational  defense  of  Christianity  is  not  complete  with- 
out an  inquiry  into  the  claims  of  other  religions.  It  is  true 
that  this  comparative  study  is  not  a  matter  of  very  vital 
concern  for  most  adherents  of  Christianity  in  Christian  lands. 
It  is  in  the  mission  field  that  this  aspect  of  apologetics  is 
most  essential.  Still,  the  student  should  be  at  least  reason- 
ably intelligent  concerning  other  religions  in  order  that  he 
may  enrich  his  religious  thinking  by  a  knowledge  of  other 
ways  of  meeting  the  problems  of  faith. 

The  modern  attempt  to  appreciate  foreign  faiths. — For- 
merly theologians  were  too  prone  to  adopt  a  method  of  defense 
which  consisted  in  depicting  the  failures  and  defects  of  other 
religions  while  expounding  Christianity  in  its  ideal  aspects. 
Such  a  comparison  seemed  easily  to  prove  the  superiority  of 
Christianity.  In  recent  years,  however,  the  honest  attempt 
has  been  made  to  give  a  sympathetic  and  fair  account  of  other 
faiths.  This  attitude  is  partly  due  to  the  better  acquaintance 
with  the  thinking  of  peoples  in  missionary  lands,  as  mis- 
sionaries have  had  opportunity  to  enter  more  fully  into  the 
life  of  those  to  whom  they  minister.  It  is  partly  due  to  the 
historical  spirit  which  undertakes  to  tell  the  truth  about  a 
religion,  no  matter  what  becomes  of  apologetic  considerations. 
The  question  which  arises  in  connection  with  this  historical 
appreciation    is    whether    missionary    efforts    are    justified. 


560        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

When  we  take  into  account  the  fact  that  every  reHgion  arises 
to  meet  the  actual  social  needs  of  those  among  whom  it 
develops,  may  we  not  assume  that  such  natural  development 
represents  a  survival  of  the  fittest  among  possible  religious 
beliefs  ? 

The  fallacy  of  this  position  is  easily  seen  if  we  recognize 
that  no  religion,  not  even  the  Christianity  which  we  know,  is 
entirely  adequate  to  the  needs  of  men.  Any  religion  is 
constantly  in  need  of  criticism  and  of  development  in  order 
to  reach  its  full  measure  of  value.  A  comparison  of  the  ideals 
of  Christianity  with  those  of  other  religions  in  these  regards 
will  be  extremely  valuable  to  the  student,  leading  him  not  only 
to  a  new  appreciation  of  .the  priceless  value  of  the  great  utter- 
ances of  the  prophets  and  of  Jesus,  but  also  awakening  in  him 
the  vision  of  the  possibilities  of  spiritual  development  if  these 
ideals  are  allowed  to  come  into  their  rights. 

The  comparative  point  of  view  will  also  make  it  clear 
that  Christianity  in  mission  fields  will  have  a  peculiar  de- 
velopment due  to  the  stimulus  of  peculiar  conditions  of  each 
field.  If,  in  the  history  of  our  faith,  Greek  Catholic  ortho- 
doxy, Roman  Catholicism,  Lutheranism,  Anglicanism,  and 
other  forms  of  Christian  faith  have  developed  in  response  to 
the  historical  conditions  which  they  met,  ought  we  not  to  ex- 
pect that  the  future  will  bring  into  existence  types  of  Chris- 
tianity bearing  the  impress  of  the  special  cultures  of  the 
Orient  ?  If  this  question  be  answered  in  the  affirmative, 
it  is  no  longer  a  question  of  proving  that  Western  Christianity 
is  superior  in  all  respects  to  the  oriental  faiths.  The  real 
question  is  whether  Christianity  is  more  capable  than  any 
other  religion  of  introducing  into  the  religious  traditions  of 
the  oriental  peoples  a  spiritual  worship  embracing  a  devout 
humanitarian  culture.  The  answer  to  this  question  is  not  to 
be  found  in  creedal  statements.  It  is  rather  to  be  sought 
in  the  actual  capacity  of  Christianity  to  adapt  itself  to  foreign 
conditions  while  maintaining  that  continuity  of  spirit  and 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      561 

that  idealism  which  have  made  it  worthy  of  the  love  and 
loyalty  of  Christians  in  all  ages  of  its  Western  history. 

Literature. — Statements  as  to  the  superiority  of  Christianity  are  of 
scientific  value  only  as  they  rest  on  real  knowledge.  Such  knowledge  is 
difficult  to  attain.  The  following  books  represent  suggestive  attempts 
at  historical  comparative  study :  Religious  Systems  of  the  World,  by  various 
authors,  2d  ed.  (London:  Swan  Sonnenschein,  1892);  Kuenen,  National 
Religions  and  Universal  Religions  (New  York:  Scribner,  1882);  Ellin- 
wood,  Oriental  Religions  and  Christianity  (New  York:  Scribner,  1892); 
Bousset,  Das  Wesender  Religion  {Tuhingen:  Mohr,  1906;  English  trans- 
lation by  Low,  What  Is  Religion?  [New  York:  Putnam,  1907]);  G.  F. 
Moore,  History  of  Religions  (New  York:  Scribner,  191 2)  (a  second 
volume  to  follow);  Menzies,  History  of  Religion  (New  York:  Scribner, 
1895)- 

V.      CHRISTIAN   ETHICS 

The  Christian  is  a  person  who  not  only  relates  his  life  to 
the  spiritual  reahties  of  his  environment  for  the  sake  of  his 
own  inner  satisfaction,  but  who  also  necessarily  lives  in  the 
world  and  in  society  with  certain  standards  of  conduct.  He 
believes  that  certain  ways  of  behavior  are  imperative,  and 
he  seeks  to  order  his  own  life  and  to  organize  society  in  such 
a  way  as  to  promote  the  kind  of  life  in  which  he  believes. 
Christian  ethics  undertakes  to  set  forth  the  principles  which 
the  Christian  believes  ought  to  guide  human  conduct.  Prob- 
ably this  ethical  aspect  of  Christianity  is  most  important  in  the 
eyes  of  most  men.  Theological  opinions  are  very  generally 
regarded  as  matter  of  personal  option.  But  moral  convic- 
tions are  esteemed  to  be  of  primary  importance,  and  an  indi- 
vidual or  a  church  is  generally  judged  on  the  basis  of  ethics 
rather  than  on  the  basis  of  theological  behefs.  A  study  of 
the  ethical  content  of  Christianity  is  thus  imperative  if  one 
is  to  understand  its  real  nature. 

The  historical  evolution  of  Christian  ethics. — Just  as  it  has 
been  common  to  think  of  Christian  doctrine  as  a  thing  authori- 
tatively fixed  once  for  all,  persisting  unchanged  through 
the  ages,  so  it  has  been  customary  to  speak  of  Christian 


562         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

ethics  as  a  divinely  authorized  system  of  conduct.  The 
first  task  of  the  student  should  be  to  realize  the  significance 
of  historical  development  in  the  realm  of  Christian  conduct. 
In  a  vague  way  the  fact  of  historical  change  is  realized  by 
everyone.  Paul's  precepts  concerning  the  behavior  of  women 
in  pubHc  places  are  generally  recognized  to  have  been  the 
reflection  of  local  and  temporal  exigencies.  Protestants 
regard  some  Catholic  practices,  like  fasting,  obedience  to  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities,  etc.,  as  unwarranted  developments 
in  Christian  history.  But  there  is  not  yet  an  adequate 
understanding  of  the  fact  that  Christian  morality  has  had  a 
historical  development.  Until  this  is  fully  realized  Chris- 
tians will  be  more  eager  to  conserve  the  customs  of  the  past 
than  aggressively  to  attack  the  evils  of  the  present  and-  the 
future. 

The  ethical  ideal  of  the  primitive  Christians. — The  lofty 
ideals  of  the  New  Testament  Christians  will  always  stand  as 
an  inspiration  to  later  ages.  But  it  is  important  for  the  stu- 
dent to  realize  the  historical  limitations  of  those  ideals  as  well 
as  to  appreciate  their  moral  grandeur.  The  early  Christians 
were  looking  for  a  speedy  ending  of  this  "present  evil  age" 
by  the  miraculous  establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
Their  affections  were  therefore  set  upon  a  future  which  was 
not  to  be  brought  about  by  their  own  moral  efforts.  To  be  a 
Christian  meant  to  be  personally  devoted  to  Christ,  so  as  to 
win  his  approval  in  the  great  day  of  judgment.  But  it  did 
not  mean  that  Christians  should  undertake  to  transform  the 
existing  social  order.  This  was  expected  to  pass  away  in  the 
great  consummation.  The  New  Testament  thus  lacks  that 
interest  in  social  evolution  which  is  an  essential  of  modern 
ethical  thinking. 

This  disregard  for  the  present  social  order  and  the  vivid 
expectation  of  the  speedy  coming  of  the  heavenly  Kingdom 
meant  that  the  standards  of  conduct  must  be  found  in  that 
"other"  world  rather  than  in  this.     Consequently  men  were 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      563 

concerned  to  ask  what  God  requires  of  those  who  are  to  be 
citizens  of  the  coming  Kingdom  rather  than  to  ask  what 
ought  to  be  done  to  make  this  world  a  better  place  in  which 
to  live.  It  is  true  that  the  interpretation  of  the  character  of 
God  given  by  Jesus  and  set  forth  by  his  disciples  affirms  that 
God  is  fundamentally  concerned  with  humanitarian  welfare. 
Thus  in  actual  content  the  ethics  of  the  New  Testament 
demands  the  exercise  of  unselfish  love  toward  one's  fellow- 
men.  But  these  same  fellow-men  are  valued,  not  as  citizens 
of  this  world,  but  as  beings  capable  of  entering  into  the 
future  Kingdom.  Thus  the  morahty  of  the  New  Testament 
moves  on  a  very  simple  plane  of  personal  relationships,  and 
does  not  involve  any  serious  entanglement  with  the  social  and 
industrial  problems  of  existing  civilization.  This  .dominant 
position  of  the  eschatological  hope  makes  it  impossible  to 
transfer  literally  to  our  own  age  the  precepts  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. To  do  so  would  mean  to  ignore  the  moral  problems 
due  to  modern  social  and  industrial  conditions.  It  is  of  espe- 
cial importance  that  the  student  should  learn  to  read  the 
moral  ideals  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  light  of  the  histor- 
ical situation  in  order  to  see  the  inadequacy  of  a  conception  of 
Christian  ethics  which  would  ascertain  duty  for  today  simply 
by  asking  what  the  New  Testament  teaches. 

Literature.— Most  expositions  of  the  ethics  of  the  New  Testament 
ignore  or  minimize  the  significance  of  the  historical  situation  and  attempt 
to  read  the  precepts  of  Jesus  and  of  the  apostles  as  sufficient  for 
all  time  and  for  all  historical  situations.  Among  the  most  readable 
works  of  this  type  are  Peabody,  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Christian  Character 
(New  York:  Macmillan,  1905);  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question 
(New  York:  Macmillan,  1900);  Clarke,  The  Ideal  of  Jesus  (New  York: 
Scribner,  191 1);  King,  The  Ethics  of  Jesus  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
1910),  with  a  good  bibliography. 

Attempts  to  set  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament  writers  in 
relation  to  the  historical  conditions  of  thinking  may  be  found  in  Mathews, 
The  Messianic  Hope  in  the  New  Testament,  Part  IV  (Chicago:  The 
University  of  Chicago  Press,  1905);  Herrmann,  Die  sittliche  Weisungen 
Jesu;  ihr  Misshrauch  und  ihr  richtiger  Brauch  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck 


564        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

unci  Ru^Drecht,  1904;  English  translation  in  pp.  145-225  of  The  Social 
Gospel  (New  York:  Putnam,  1907);  E.  F.  Scott,  The  Beginnings  of  the 
Church,  Lecture  VI  (New  Yorlc:  Scribner,  1914);  Troeltscli,  Die 
SoziaUehren  der  christlichen  Kirchen  und  Gruppen,  pp.  1-83  (Tubingen: 
Molir,  191 2). 

The    subordination    of    ethical    to    religious   interests. — 

This  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  early  church  meant  that 
conduct  must  -be  judged  in  relation  to  religious  interests. 
To  be  ready  for  the  coming  Kingdom  was  more  important  than 
to  attain  any  particular  status  in  this  world.  The  inevitable 
consequence  of  this  point  of  view  was  to  make  ethics  sub- 
ordinate to  theology.  Indeed,  it  is  only  in  modern  times  that 
Christian  ethics  as  a  separate  realm  of  study  has  been  differ- 
entiated from  theology  as  a  whole. 

The  development  of  the  Catholic  conception  of  Christian 
ethics. — The  theological  emphasis  which  placed  the  future 
world  above  the  present,  and  which  led  men  first  to  ask  what 
was  demanded  in  order  to  be  eligible  to  the  blessings  of  that 
future  world,  made  inevitable  the  development  of  a  system 
of  authoritative  control  of  human  conduct.  If  ethics  be 
defined  as  obedience  to  the  will  of  God,  the  all-important  ques- 
tion is  to  determine  where  that  divine  will  is  made  known.  So 
long  as  men  disagree  here  human  error  is  vitiating  conclusions. 
The  possibility  of  mistake  must  be  eliminated.  Cathohcism 
has  undertaken  to  furnish  an  authoritative  pronouncement  of 
the  divine  will.  The  church,  as  the  divinely  appointed  agent 
of  God,  has  the  right  to  guide  the  inquiries  of  men  and  to 
decide  what  conclusions  are  in  accord  with  God's  revealed 
will.  All  merely  "natural"  reasoning  must  be  subjected  to 
the  censorship  of  "supernatural"  authority.  All  activities 
of  men  are  to  be  controlled  by  the  church.  The  moral  quahty 
of  an  action  is  ultimately  determined  by  its  conformity  or  lack 
of  conformity  to  the  authority  of  the  church.  Thus  church- 
controlled  education  is  morally  superior  to  secular  education 
because  it  inculcates  a  wilhngness  to  conform  to  authority. 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      565 

An  unbaptized  man  is  morally  bad  because  he  has  not  sub- 
mitted himself  to  the  church.  Freedom  of  research,  freedom 
in  politics,  freedom  of  religious  thinking,  are  all  dangerous 
because  these  attitudes  represent  a  fundamental  failure  to 
apply  the  standard  of  authority. 

Obviously  such  a  conception  of  ethics  makes  difficult,  if 
not  impossible,  any  wholesome  criticism.  Men  trained 
under  this  system  are  taught  to  ask  the  question,  "What is 
officially  authorized  ?"  rather  than  to  inquire  what  an  honest 
study  of  the  facts  yields.  Cathohc  ethics  is  thus  necessarily 
static  and  conventional.  It  seeks  to  meet  moral  questions 
by  interpreting  a  predetermined  program  rather  than  by 
analysis  of  actual  conditions.  Logically  it  would  compel  a 
return  to  mediaeval  culture,  when  it  was  taken  for  granted 
that  the  church  should  be  supreme  in  authority  over  the 
thoughts  and  actions  of  men. 

The  student  ought  to  make  himself  acquainted  with 
Cathohc  ethical  ideals,  for  every  pastor  and  social  worker 
finds  himself  confronted  with  the  powerful  influence  of  the 
Catholic  church.  In  its  fundamental  distrust  of  merely 
"natural"  or  "secular"  forces  Catholicism  is  intent  on 
creating  a  kind  of  goodness  which  shall  be  ecclesiastically 
identified  and  approved  rather  than  a  kind  of  goodness  which 
shall  lose  itself  in  the  social  development  of  humanity  as  such. 
Ultimately  it  is  the  "other"  world  of  theological  exposition 
rather  than  the  present  world  of  historical  development  which 
is  to  determine  moral  issues.  It  is  true  that  by  its  elaborate 
casuistry  Catholicism  attempts  to  meet  the  particular  prob- 
lems of  changing  life.  But  such  casuistry  is  pecuharly 
liable  to  be  misunderstood.  In  form  it  too  often  seems  to  be  a 
clever  attempt  to  nullify  the  obvious  meaning  of  authorita- 
tive pronouncements  in  order  to  give  relief  in  some  particular 
instance.  If  the  highest  good  is  defined  as  conformity  to  an 
authoritative  standard,  any  nonconformity  means  moral 
laxity,  however  it  be  explained.     It  is  only  when  a  moral 


566        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

imperative  can  be  found  precisely  in  nonconformity  itself  that 
ethical  integrity  is  possible  in  the  act  of  departing  from  pre- 
scribed duties.  For  such  an  ethical  interpretation  Catholicism 
makes  no  logical  place. 

Literature.- — Standard  works  on  Catholic  ethics  are  Werner,  System 
der  christlichen  Ethik  (Regensburg:  Verlagsanstalt,  1850;  2d  ed.,  1888); 
Liguori,  Theologia  moralis  (first  published  in  1756  and  repeatedly 
republished);  Cathrein,  Philosophia  moralis  (Freiburg:  Herder,  1895); 
Mausbach,  Die  katholische  Moral,  Hire  Methoden,  Grimdsdtzen  und 
Aufgahen  (Cologne:  Bachem,  1901);  Rickaby,  Moral  Philosophy  (Lon- 
don: Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1888).  The  discussion  of  moral  prob- 
lems in  the  Catholic  Encyclopedia  will  give  authoritative  statements.  An 
admirably  clear  and  earnest  statement  of  Catholic  principles  in  relation 
to  many  modern  problems  is  found  in  The  Great  Encyclical  Letters  of  Pope 
Leo  XIII  (New  York:  Benziger  Bros.,  1903). 

The  moral  dangers  of  casuistry  are  set  forth  by  Pascal,  Lettres 
provinciales  (a  good  edition,  Paris:  Hachette,  1886).  A  scathing  criti- 
cism of  the  Catholic  position  is  given  by  Herrmann,  Rdmischkatholische 
und  evafigelische  Sittlichkeit  (Marburg:  Elwert,  1900;  English  translation 
in  Faith  and  Morals  [New  York:  Putnam,  1904]). 

The  ethics  of  Protestantism. — From  the  ethical  point 
of  view  the  fundamental  distinction  between  Protestantism 
and  Catholicism  lies  in  the  elimination  of  ecclesiastical 
authority  by  the  former.  This  leaves  the  individual  free  from 
institutional  domination.  Protestantism,  therefore,  has  at- 
tempted to  find  moral  motives  and  sanctions  in  the  Christian 
experience  of  the  individual  rather  than  in  the  pronouncements 
of  the  church.  The  abandonment  of  the  confessional  is  a 
mark  of  this  emancipation  of  the  individual.  Moral  activity 
is  represented  as  the  consequence  of  being  saved  by  the  grace 
of  God.  The  Christian,  filled  with  gratitude  for  God's  love 
toward  him,  voluntarily  devotes  his  life  to  the  fulfilment  of 
the  will  of  God.  One  should  be  familiar  with  the  vital 
optimism  of  this  conception  of  morality  as  it  is  expressed 
in  Luther's  sermons  and  in  his  treatise  Concerning  Christian 
Liberty.     Such    an   ethical   ideal    opened   the  way   for   the 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      567 

recognition  of  moral  values  in  secular  life.  It  enabled 
Luther  to  declare  that  the  housemaid  in  the  kitchen  is  engaged 
in  as  sacred  a  task  as  is  the  clergyman.  It  inspired  Luther's 
famous  Address  to  the  German  Nobility,  in  which  those  whose 
vocation  was  in  the  realm  of  political  activity  were  summoned 
to  an  opportunity  for  Christian  ministry.  Protestantism  thus 
is  much  better  adapted  than  is  Catholicism  to  appreciate  and 
to  inspire  non-ecclesiastical  moral  endeavors,  and  it  is  in 
Protestant  lands  that  secular  culture  has  been  permitted  to 
develop  without  the  necessity  of  submitting  to  ecclesiastical 
control. 

But  Protestantism,  hke  Catholicism,  retained  the  funda- 
mental conception  of  a  morality  directed  by  prescriptions  from 
another  world.  The  Reformation  occurred  before  men  had 
come  to  realize  the  possibilities  of  empirical  inquiry.  The 
deductive  method  was  still  dominant  in  all  branches  of 
learning.  Ethics  also  was  regarded  as  a  deductive  science. 
Even  philosophical  ethics  was  attempting  to  set  forth  the 
principles  furnished  a  priori  in  the  divinely  established  "law 
of  nature."  Protestantism  supplemented  this  law  of  nature 
by  the  revealed  law  found  in  Scripture.  Thus  the  essen- 
tial content  of  ethics  was  regarded  as  "given"  from  above. 
In  principle  the  Protestant  Christian,  like  the  Catholic,  is 
taught  to  study  a  ready-made  code  rather  than  to  analyze 
the  actual  conditions  of  life.  The  fact  that  every  individual 
has  the  right  of  private  interpretation  gives  an  opportunity  for 
flexibility  not  found  in  Catholicism;  and  in  recent  years 
Protestant  ethics  has  been  very  active  in  seeking  to  under- 
stand the  problems  of  our  modern  life,  though  it  still  generally 
professes  to  derive  its  principles  from  an  authoritative  source 
in  Scripture. 

The  defect  of  the  traditional  Protestant  conception  of 
ethics. — We  have  come  to  realize  the  fact  that  human  life  is  a 
historical  growth,  and  that  this  growth  involves  changes  in 
human  culture.     The  moral  code  of  the  savage,  with  his  simple 


568        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

life  and  his  few  interests,  is  totally  inadequate  to  the  complex 
problems  of  modern  industrial  and  social  life.  The  prin- 
ciples which  secured  justice  in  an  age  when  every  locality  was 
virtually  self-supporting  and  self-sufficient  are  hopelessly 
antiquated  in  an  age  when  we  are  all  dependent  on  transporta- 
tion of  goods  and  an  intricate  machinery  of  exchange  of 
values.  Moral  principles,  whether  of  the  savage  or  of  the 
modern  man,  must  be  derived  from  an  appreciation  of  the 
actual  moral  needs  engendered  by  conditions  of  life.  Thus 
we  are  today  more  and  more  adopting  the  method  of  study- 
ing the  facts  of  life  as  the  means  of  determining  what  ought  to 
be  done. 

Now,  Protestantism  has  continued  to  employ  the  deductive 
method.  It  has  been  assumed  generally  that  a  study  of  the 
Bible  would  adequately  prepare  one  to  live  a  moral  life. 
But  the  Bible  presents  us  with  comparatively  primitive 
conditions  of  industrial  and  social  life.  The  principle  of 
neighborliness  is  set  forth  as  sufficient.  And  in  small  com- 
munities where  men  know  one  another  neighborliness  is  a 
reasonably  efficient  way  in  which  to  secure  right  relations  of 
men  to  one  another.  But  in  the  complex  conditions  of  a 
•gfeat  industrial  civilization  a  man  may  earnestly  desire  to  be 
neighborly,  and  yet  find  himself  helplessly  confronting  moral 
evils.  The  ethical  conception  of  Protestantism,  emphasizing 
as  it  does  the  appeal  to  an  alien  source  of  moral  authority, 
fails  to  train  men  in  that  inductive  study  of  conditions  which 
is  indispensable  to  the  evolution  of  a  morality  suited  to  our 
modern  life.  Protestantism,  like  Catholicism,  is  still  primarily 
concerned  with  conventional,  ecclesiastically  approved  virtues. 
We  are  just  awakening  to  the  fact  that  moral  leadership  has 
been  fast  passing  out  of  the  hands  of  the  church,  simply 
because,  in  an  age  of  rapid  and  profound  change  in  habits 
of  life,  the  church  has  behaved  as  if  a  code  of  ethics  wrought 
out  two  thousand  years  ago  were  entirely  adequate  to  the 
demands  of  the  present. 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      569 

Literature. — The  fresh  inspiration  engendered  by  the  original 
Protestant  ideal  is  best  seen  in  Luther's  great  treatises,  Concerning 
Christian  Liberty  and  To  the  Christian  Nobility  of  the  German  Nation 
respecting  the  Reformation  of  the  Christian  Estate,  both  found  in  English 
in  Luther's  Primary  Works,  translated  by  Wace  and  Buchheim  (London: 
Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1896).  The  ethical  portions  of  Calvin's  Institutes 
should  also  be  read. 

Protestant  ethical  treatises  have  generally  attempted  to  make  such 
use  of  the  deductive  method  as  should  bring  either  Scripture,  or  the 
"principles"  of  Scripture,  or  the  expression  of  Christian  "experience" 
into  relation  with  the  moral  problems  of  our  day.  Among  the  best  are 
Herrmann,  Ethik  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1901;  5th  ed.,  1913);  Haering, 
Das  christliche  Leben  auf  Grund  des  christUchen  Glaubens  (Calw: 
Verlagsverein,  1902;  2d  ed.,  1906;  English  translation  by  Hill,  The 
Ethics  of  the  Christian  Life  [New  York:  Putnam,  1909]);  Smyth,  Chris- 
tian Ethics  (New  York:  Scribner,  1892);  Murray,  Handbook  of  Christian 
Ethics  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1908).  Alexander,  Christianity  and  Ethics 
(New  York:  Scribner,  1914),  is  an  interesting  and  instructive  example  of 
the  struggle  to  do  justice,  by  means  of  a  deductive  conception,  to  a  situa- 
tion which  demands  the  use  of  the  inductive  method.  It  has  an  extensive 
bibliography. 

In  recent  years  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  use  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  deductively  to  interpret  modern  moral  duties.  Typical  works  of 
this  kind  were  cited  on  p.  563. 

The  need  for  a  new  conception  of  Christian  ethics. — Since 
the  same  factors  which  occasion  changes  in  theological  think- 
ing are  operative  in  the  realm  of  ethics  as  well,  a  reconstruction 
of  ethical  thinking  is  involved  in  theological  reconstruction. 
The  repudiation 'Of  the  Catholic  conception  of  the  church 
involved  the  radical  revision  of  the  idea  of  Christian  morality 
which  we  find  in  Luther's  treatment  of  the  subject.  But, 
as  has  been  indicated  in  the  section  dealing  with  modern 
theolog}',  we  have  today  abandoned  the  ways  of  thinking 
which  characterized  early  Protestantism.  For  modern  men 
God  is  to  be  discovered  in  the  relations  of  the  aspiring  soul 
to  immediate  environment.  He  is  immanent  in  the  move- 
ments of  history.  The  dictates  of  the  Catholic  church  are 
no  more  authoritative  than  the  summons  of  actual  moral 


570        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

need  as  we  meet  it.  We  cannot  define  Christian  ethics  in 
terms  of  a  church-controlled  society.  Neither  can  we  regard 
Christian  duty  as  identical  with  biblical  precepts.  We 
readily  disregard  Paul's  instructions  concerning  the  pubhc 
activities  of  women,  because  we  hold  judgments  due  to  our 
modern  appreciation  of  woman's  place  in  social  life.  We  are 
learning  more  and  more  to  organize  our  Christian  activities 
in  relation  to  the  actual  moral  demands  of  life  rather  than  in 
response  to  a  pattern  taken  from  an  isolated  portion  of  history. 
The  most  vigorous  Christian  activities  of  our  day  are  building 
up  their  moral  principles  through  actual  experience.  The 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  modern  Sunday 
school,  the  institutional  church,  the  methods  of  modern  evan- 
gelism, the  fight  against  intemperance  and  against  vice — • 
these  movements  are  all  employing  an  empirical  method  of 
determining  morality  which  should  be  extended  to  the  entire 
field  of  Christian  ethics.  They  are  not  looking  for  explicit 
direction  from  an  alien  source ;  they  are  rather  concerned  to 
understand  and  to  utilize  the  moral  forces  latent  in  life  today. 
God's  will  is  found  in  the  actual  appeal  of  the  facts  rather  than 
in  a  prescribed  code.  Just  as  modern  religious  thinking  is 
learning  to  draw  its  inspiration  from  the  world  in  which  we 
live,  so  modern  Christian  ethics  must  learn  to  determine  its 
content  by  a  careful  study  of  the  problems  which  confront  us 
and  an  understanding  of  the  resources  with  which  we  may 
attain  moral  results.  Christian  ethics  should  be  defined  as 
the  determination  of  the  duties  of  a  modern  Christian  living 
in  the  modern  world.  To  define  it  in  terms  of  an  ethical 
system  belonging  to  another  age  is  to  fail  to  make  Christianity 
completely  ethical. 

Moral  inefficiency  due  to  confusion  of  ideals. — Until 
one  definitely  asks  himself  whether  his  moral  duty  is  to  con- 
form to  a  "given"  code  or  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  situation 
one  has  not  reached  a  foundation  for  the  consistent  building  of 
the  moral  structure.     Is  it  our  Christian  duty  to  organize 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      571 

church  activities  and  to  engage  in  missionary  enterprise  with 
the  purpose  of  creating  as  many  churches  as  possible  which 
shall  reproduce  the  "scriptural''  polity?  Or  is  it  our  Chris- 
tian duty  to  ask  what  kind  of  a  church  and  how  many  churches 
are  demanded  by  the  religious  needs  of  each  community  ?  Our 
criminally  overchurched  small  towns,  with  their  sectarian 
rivalries  and  their  pitiful  struggles  for  bare  existence,  are 
monuments  of  moral  delinquency  due  to  a  failure  to  base 
duty  on  a  study  of  the  facts.  The  same  moral  failure  is 
sure  to  follow  any  enterprise  which  is  guided  merely  by  an 
ethics  of  conformity.  Our  Christian  activities  today  are  in  too 
many  instances  following  the  scribes  rather  than  Jesus.  Our 
treatises  on  Christian  conduct  are  too  generally  using  the 
scribal  methods  of  exegesis  of  scriptural  texts  rather  than  the 
method  employed  by  Jesus,  by  Paul,  and  by  all  great  moral 
prophets,  of  determining  duty  by  spiritual  insight  into  the 
actual  conditions  confronting  them.  The  method  of  the 
scribes  is  always  cumbersome  and  clumsy.  So  long  as  we  are 
pursuing  the  devious  way  of  attempting  to  solve  modern 
moral  problems  by  a  study  of  precepts  addressed  to  other 
times  and  other  occasions  we  shall  reap  the  harvest  of  moral 
confusion.  Nothing  is  more  imperatively  demanded  of  the 
modern  minister  than  an  understanding  of  the  inadequacy 
of  the  deductive  method  which  we  have  inherited  in 
our  Christian  ethics.  Our  rehgious  instruction  and  our 
moral  training  must  be  brought  into  line  with  that  method  of 
ascertaining  duty  which  is  in  accord  both  with  the  practice 
of  Jesus  and  with  the  science  of  our  day. 

Literature. — This  situation  has  been  portrayed  in  some  detail  by 
G.  B.  Smith,  Social  Idealism  and  the  Changing  Theology  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1913).  See  also  Troeltsch,  Die  Soziallehren  der  christlichen 
Kirchen  und  Gruppen  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  191 2);  King,  The  Moral  and 
Religious  Challenge  of  Our  Times  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1912); 
Rauschenbusch,  Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis  (New  York:  Mac- 
millan, 1907) ;  Dickinson,  The  Christian  Reconstruction  of  Modern  Life 
(New  York:   Macmillan,  1913). 


572        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  study  of  psychology  and  of  sociology. — In  order  to  feel 
at  home  in  the  use  of  this  empirical  method  of  studying  ethi- 
cal problems,  every  minister  should  avail  himself  of  the  aid 
furnished  by  modern  psychology  and  sociology.  In  these 
branches  of  human  investigation  he  finds  men  first  asking  ques- 
tions concerning  the  facts  of  human  life,  and  then  deriving  their 
conclusions  from  the  facts.  For  example,  where  the  older 
dogmatic  theology  began  with  a  doctrine  of  innate  sinfulness, 
modern  investigations  ascertain  as  far  as  possible  the  concrete 
causes  of  behavior.  It  has  been  shown,  for  example,  that 
minor  physical  defects,  such  as  adenoids  or  poor  eyesight 
or  dull  hearing,  lead  children  to  unwholesome  mental  atti- 
tudes and  to  "wrong"  conduct.  Manifestly,  to  allow  these 
physical  hindrances  to  receive  no  attention  is  to  neglect 
our  plain  moral  duty.  To  discover  the  specific  reasons  why 
people  "go  wrong"  is  a  better  preparation  for  dealing  with 
their  moral  problems  than  is  a  detailed  metaphysical  or 
theological  study  of  the  "nature"  of  sin.  To  ascertain  in 
detail  just  what  it  is  in  the  experience  of  men  that  constitutes 
the  motive  to  do  "right"  is  better  than  to  indulge  in  rhetori- 
cally vague  appeals  to  "conscience."  To  know  the  physical 
conditions  of  a  wholesome  spiritual  life  is  an  indispensable 
part  of  ethics. 

Here  it  should  be  remarked  that  most  philosophical 
treatises  on  ethics  are  too  metaphysical  and  abstract  to  furnish 
the  needed  aid.  Philosophy  as  well  as  theology  has  been 
under  the  domination  of  the  deductive  method.  The  effort 
has  been  to  establish  some  a  priori  principle  from  which  to 
derive  the  content  of  ethics.  From  Kant's  "categorical 
imperative"  to  the  utilitarian  "greatest  good  of  the  greatest 
number"  the  ethical  systems  of  the  past  century  have 
attempted  to  unify  and  simplify  ethics  by  subsuming  all 
particular  kinds  of  conduct  under  some  one  ultimate  norm. 
Inspiring  as  is  the  conception  of  some  great  all-inclusive  ideal, 
it  nevertheless  does  not  furnish  one  with  the  sort  of  insight 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      573 

which  is  developed  by  patient  inquiry  into  the  facts.  The 
student  should  master  some  treatise  which  effectively  employs 
the  empirical  method. 

Literature. — An  excellent  popular  introduction  to  this  way  of  study- 
ing moral  problems  is  given  in  King,  Rational  Living  (New  York:  Mac- 
millan,  1905).  More  thoroughgoing  treatments  are  Wundt,  Facts  of  the 
Moral  Life  (English  translation  by  Gulliver  and  Titchener  [London: 
Swan  Sonnenschein,  1902]) ;  Dewey  and  Tufts,  Ethics  (New  York:  Henry 
Holt  &  Co.,  1908);  Hobhouse,  Morals  in  Evolution,  2  vols.  (New  York: 
Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1906);  Westermarck,  Origin  and  Development  of  the 
Moral  Ideas,  2  vols.  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1908). 

The  spirit  of  Christian  ethics. — Having  come  to  under- 
stand that  moral  problems  must  be  studied  inductively, 
the  student  is  freed  from  the  blighting  influence  of  the  ideal 
of  mere  conformity.  Ethics  is  a  creative  activity,  not  a 
mere  reproduction  and  application  of  predetermined  prin- 
ciples. The  real  power  of  Christian  ethics  is  revealed  only  as 
moral  activity  is  seen  to  be  the  way  in  which  one  joyously 
and  heroically  unites  his  activities  with  those  of  the  loving 
God  whose  presence  one  has  been  able  to  realize  in  one's  inner 
life.  The  creative  identification  of  one's  will  with  the  pur- 
pose of  God,  and  the  conviction  that  the  will  of  God  is  most 
truly  found  in  those  attitudes  and  ministrations  of  love  which 
Jesus  exemplified  and  which  his  truest  followers  have  always 
put  foremost — these  are  the  essentials  of  Christian  ethics. 
One  who  believes  in  the  possibility  of  this  co-operation  with 
the  divine  purposes  is  stimulated  to  an  optimistic  idealism 
with  surprising  possibilities.  One  is  not  daunted  by  seemingly 
insuperable  difficulties.  One  feels  the  divine  call  and  knows 
that  the  divine  strength  is  available  in  every  heroid  undertak- 
ing. While  one  prays  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  may  come,  one 
also  rejoices  in  the  opportunity  to  have  a  share  in  bringing  in 
the  better  day.  Let  one  recall  the  courage  with  which  devout 
Christians  have  undertaken  appalling  tasks.  Think  of  the 
magnitude    of    the    missionary   enterprise,    of    the    untiring 


574        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

evangelism  which  never  despairs  of  even  the  desperately 
sinful,  of  the  insistence  of  Christians,  in  the  face  of  social  dis- 
tinctions, that  all  men  have  equal  rights  to  spiritual  oppor- 
tunities, of  the  fight  against  intemperance,  impurity,  and 
demoralizing  luxury.  Christianity  enables  those  who  bear 
heavy  burdens  to  feel  the  aid  of  a  divine  yoke-fellow;  it  brings 
to  the  man  who  faces  tasks  too  large  for  his  strength  the 
consciousness  of  God's  slowly  moving  but  wonderful  plans;  it 
lifts  one's  thinking  and  one's  aspirations  above  the  petty 
level  of  utilitarian  plans  and  gives  to  life  at  its  best  a  grandeur 
and  a  significance  which  suggest  divine  possibilities.  Men 
who  are  conscious  of  longing  for  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  will  pray  and  strive  to  live  in  the  spirit  of  the  Kingdom, 
and  will  thus  experience  the  presence  and  power  of  God  in 
their  hves.  It  is  the  creative  power  of  such  religiously 
inspired  morality  that  distinguished  the  early  Christians  from 
the  mere  conformists  of  their  day,  and  that  made  them  the 
founders  of  a  growing  religion  of  power.  The  New  Testament, 
rightly  understood,  is  the  "charter  of  the  religion  of  the 
Spirit,"  and  should  stimulate  modern  Christians  to  a  forward- 
looking  creative  spirit  of  active  discipleship  to  Jesus  in  relation 
to  the  problems  of  our  day. 

Literature. — Most  expositions  of  the  ethical  practice  of  Jesus  are 
concerned  to  find  in  his  ethical  precepts  an  authoritative  code  which  may 
be  employed  deductively.  Suggestive  studies  of  the  spiritual  freedom  of 
Jesus  and  of  an  ethics  in  the  spirit  of  Jesus  are  found  in  Herrmann,  Die 
sittliche  Weisungen  Jesu;  ihr  Missbrauch  und  ihr  richtiger  Branch  (Got- 
tingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1904;  English  translation  in 
The  Social  Gospel,  [New  York:  Putnam,  1907]);  Wernle,  Die  Anfdnge 
unserer  Religion  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1901;  2d  ed.,  1904;  English  trans- 
lation by  Bienemann,  The  Beginnings  of  Christianity  [New  York:  Put- 
nam, 1903]);  King,  The  Ethics  of  Jesus  (Ntvf  York:  Macmillan,  1910), 
with  a  good  bibliography. 

The  development  of  Christian  character. — The  most 
important  and  significant  moral  task  of  Christianity  is  the 
creation  of  a  moral  purpose  leading  men  to  transcend  the 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      5  75 

convenient  utilitarian  standards  which  excuse  easy-going 
conduct,  and  to  face  the  question  of  a  right  relationship  to 
God,  from  whom  the  inner  life  of  man  cannot  be  concealed. 
In  Christian  experience  one  learns  the  joy  and  strength 
which  comes  from  fellowship  with  Jesus  in  the  identification 
of  self  with  the  holy  purpose  of  the  loving  God.  It  is  difficult 
to  overestimate  the  moral  significance  of  this  experience  of 
communion  with  the  living  God.  It  makes  possible  self- 
sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  the  goods  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
It  brings  into  life  the  reinforcement  of  a  spiritual  friend- 
ship with  God.  It  inspires  men  to  dare  to  hope  for  large 
things  and  to  attempt  seemingly  hopeless  tasks.  We  are 
constantly  aware  of  moral  opportunities  which  must  be 
neglected  because  the  spiritual  life  of  men  is  too  poor  to 
undertake  the  necessary  toil  and  sacrifice.  The  most  impor- 
tant task  of  Christian  ethics  is  to  set  forth  the  reality  and 
the  moral  power  of  such  an  experience  of  God  through  dis- 
cipleship  to  Jesus.  The  technique  of  secular  investigation 
may  be  used  to  ascertain  our  moral  problems.  But  the 
spiritual  dynamic  for  high  moral  undertakings  almost  inevi- 
tably is  derived  from  Christian  hves. 

The  reality  of  this  moral  power  is  best  seen  in  those 
who  have  been  sublimely  conscious  of  the  ethical  dynamic 
found  in  their  experience.  What  gave  to  Jesus  his  unwaver- 
ing moral  courage  ?  How  does  Paul  seek  to  give  moral 
strength  to  his  own  life  and  to  the  activities  of  those  to 
whom  he  wrote  ?  Read  in  Augustine's  Confessions  the 
repeated  emphasis  on  the  divine  source  of  his  own  moral 
triumphs.  Let  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  Luther,  John  Wesley, 
and  Tolstoy  testify  concerning  the  source  of  their  moral 
strength.  In  this  religious  inspiration  of  moral  endeavor 
Christianity  makes  its  indispensable  contribution  to  ethics. 
To  fail  to  understand  this  is  to  fail  to  touch  the  heart  of 
Christian  ethics.  Back  of  all  discussions  of  particular  moral 
problems  should  lie  the  appreciation  of  the  inner  resources 


576        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  a  Christian,  who  looks  upon  his  tasks  as  contributions  to  be 
made  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  divine  will  on  earth,  and 
as  activities  in  which  profound  communion  with  the  righteous 
God  is  attained.  Christian  ethics  is  primarily  concerned  with 
the  Christian  attitude  toward  life  as  the  practical  outgrowth 
of  the  experience  of  Christian  faith. 

Christianity  and  social  ethics. — While  the  interpretation 
of  moral  character  in  relation  to  the  Christian  experience 
belongs  naturally  in  the  department  of  theology,  the  analysis 
of  social  problems  must  be  undertaken  by  one  who  is  familiar 
with  the  social  sciences.  This  necessary  division  of  labor  is 
not  as  widely  recognized  as  it  should  be.  We  are  still  under 
the  influence  of  the  mediaeval  conception  of  the  authority 
and  abihty  of  the  church  to  dictate  pohtical  and  social  con- 
ditions. It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  student 
should  come  to  think  of  social  institutions  as  natural  develop- 
ments. In  every  race  and  in  every  condition  of  human  life 
there  is  some  kind  of  family  Hfe,  some  form  of  group  govern- 
ment, some  current  way  of  educating  each  new  generation, 
some  socially  approved  methods  of  conducting  industrial  life. 
To  speak  of  the  ''Christian"  family,  for  example,  as  if  Chris- 
tianity were  responsible  for  creating  family  life  means  to 
emphasize  precisely  such  technical  regulations  as  are  promi- 
nent in  Catholicism  and  to  fail  to  take  due  account  of  the 
light  which  historical  and  social  science  may  throw  on  the 
problems  in  this  realm.  The  political  welfare  of  the  modern 
world  involves  the  refusal  to  allow  the  church  to  dictate  in  the 
realm  of  government.  Our  modern  governments  are  secular 
and  "natural"  rather  than  "Christian." 

This  means  that  in  the  field  of  social  problems  Christianity 
must  employ  the  same  method  of  determining  what  is  desirable 
that  is  used  by  secular  agencies.  If  the  result  of  an  open- 
minded  inquiry  shows  that  the  highest  good  demands  a 
reversal  of  previous  doctrines,  Christian  ethics  should  be  fore- 
most in  declaring  the  moral  duty  of  a  change.     For  example, 


SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY  AND  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS      577 

Christianity  is  rapidly  reversing  the  judgment  of  former 
generations  concerning  the  vocations  of  women.  It  is  doing 
this,  not  because  of  any  better  understandmg  of  bibHcal  pre- 
cepts, not  because  of  any  technical  claim  to  a  "Christian" 
solution  of  the  problems  due  to  the  emancipation  of  women, 
but  because  Christian  people,  recognizing  the  facts  of  our 
social  development,  desire  to  approve  what  is  manifestly  good. 
The  contribution  of  Christian  ethics  in  this  realm  must  be 
largely  that  of  keen  sympathy  for  human  welfare  developed 
by  the  Christian  faith,  with  its  afhrmation  of  the  holy  purpose 
of  God  to  establish  his  Kingdom,  and  its  insistence  on  Chris- 
tian love  toward, men  as  the  only  defensible  attitude  in  the 
sight  of  God.  From  Christianity  will  therefore  come  a 
powerful  impulse  toward  generous  justice  in  social  relations 
and  toward  subjecting  the  material  forces  of  the  world  to  the 
promotion  of  human  spiritual  welfare.  But  the  precise  ways 
in  which  justice  and  spirituality  are  to  be  secured  must  be 
determined  by  experiment  and  investigation.  The  social 
order  is  to  be  "Christianized,"  not  in  the  sense  that  every 
aspect  of  human  life  shall  be  technically  related  to  the  church, 
but  rather  in  the  sense  that  men  who  direct  society  shall  pos- 
sess the  spirit  of  service  and  of  religious  aspiration  which  find 
their  clearest  expression  and  inspiration  in  the  Christian  ideal 
of  life. 

Note. — ^This  aspect  of  Christian  ethics  is  treated  in  detail  in  chap,  xi 
of  this  volume. 


X.  PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY 

By  THEODORE  GERALD  SOARES 

Professor  of  Homiletics  and  Religious  Education  and  Head  of  the  Department 

of  Practical  Theology,  University  of  Chicago 


ANALYSIS 

Introduction:    The  Scope  of  Practical  Theology     ....     581-582 

I.  Homiletics. — Definition  and  scope. — The  modern  conception 
of  the  sermon. — The  place  of  the  Bible  in  modem  preaching. — 
Doctrinal  preaching. — Ethical  preaching. — Evangelistic  preaching. — 

The  form  of  the  modern  sermon. — The  new  homiletics     .        .        .     582-594 

II.  Church  Polity.- — Definition  and  scope.— The  historic  place 
of  church  polity. — The  modern  view  of  church  polity. — ^The 
economic  value  of  church  polity  — Denominational  organizations. — 

The  trend  toward  efficiency 594-599 

III.  Church  Administration. — Definition  and  scope. — Church 
types. — Specialism  in  the  ministry. — Church  architecture. — The 
organization     of     churches. — Interdenominational    relations. — The 

church  and  the  community 599-610 

IV.  Pastoral  Care. — Definition. — The  cure  of  souls. — The 
pastoral  office  in  the  modem  world 610-614 

V.  Liturgies. — Definition. — The  psychology  of  liturgies. — Pre-  . 
vailing  liturgical  forms. — Hymnology 614-625 

VI.  Missions. — Definition  and  scope. — Fields  of  missionary 
activity. — Forms  of  missionary  organization. — Principles  and  prob- 
lems of  foreign  missions .        .        .     625-640 

VII.  Religious  Education. — Definition  and  scope. — The  history 
of  religious  education.— Data  of  religious  education. — Theories  of 
religious  education. — Materials  of  religious  education. — Methods  of 
religious  education. — Special  problems 640-663 

VIII.  Psychology  of  Religion. — The  relation  of  the  psychology  of 
religion  to  practical  theology. — The  history  of  the  science. — Definition 
and  scope. — Methods. — Problems  of  the  psychology  of  religion. — 
Conclusion 663-676 


X.     PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY 

INTRODUCTION 

What  is  the  scope  of  practical  theology? — Practical  the- 
ology is  the  science  which  studies  the  activities  that  result 
from  the  institutionalizing  of  religion,  specifically  of  Chris- 
tianity. Christianity  is  not  an  institution  but  a  way  of  Hfe,  a 
faith.  This  faith  becomes  institutional  in  the  activity  of 
preaching,  whence  the  science  of  homiletics;  in  the  organized 
ministry  to  personal  religious  needs,  whence  the  science  of 
pastoral  care;  in  an  organized  community,  the  church,  with 
a  definite  constitution,  whence  the  science  of  ecclesiastical 
polity;  in  the  organized  church  with  an  elaborate  system  of 
practical  activities,  whence  the  science  of  church  administra- 
tion; in  a  technique  of  worship  for  the  development  of  reli- 
gious feeling,  whence  the  science  of  liturgies;  in  a  system  of 
educational  development,  whence  the  science  of  religious  edu- 
cation; and  in  all  these,  interests  extended  beyond  the  borders 
of  the  immediate  Christian  community,  whence  the  science  of 
missions. 

The  word  "practical"  as  applied  to  this  body  of  studies 
is  fitting  enough;  the  word  "theology"  is,  of  course,  entirely 
inappropriate,  but  comes  down  traditionally  from  the  use 
of  the  word  to  cover  the  whole  system  of  studies  connected 
with  religion.  It  is  the  sense,  indeed,  in  which  it  is  used  in  the 
title  of  this  volume.  No  one  has  yet  succeeded  in  finding  a 
better  term  to  cover  this  comprehensive  field. 

Literature. — There  are  many  older  treatises,  especially  in  German, 
dealing  with  the  whole  subject  of  practical  theology.  An  elaborate 
work,  available  in  English  translation,  is  Van  Oosterzee,  Practical  Theol- 
ogy (New  York:  Scribner,  1878).  It  has  four  divisions,  representing 
the  traditional  treatment  of  the  subject :  homiletics,  liturgies,  catechetics, 
poimenics.     A  modern  and  very  satisfactory  treatment  from  the  German 

S8i 


582         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

point  of  view  is  E.  Chr.  Achelis,  Lehrbuch  der  praktischen  Theologie  (Leipzig: 
Hinrichs,  191 1).  There  is  no  modern  book  in  English  which  includes  all 
the  subjects  in  this  branch  of  theology.  Gladden,  The  Christian  Pastor 
and  the  Working  Church  (New  York:  Scribner,  1906),  is  an  admirable 
treatment  of  the  practical  phases  of  ministerial  activity  other  than 
preaching.  Oswald  Dykes,  The  Christian  Minister  and  His  Duties 
(Edinburgh:  Clark,  1908),  treats  of  (i)  "The  Modern  Minister," 
(2)  "As  Leader  in  Worship,"  (3)  "As  Preacher,"  (4)  "As  Pastor." 
Within  the  brief  compass  of  the  Yale  Lectures,  Charles  E.  Jefferson 
has  discussed  the  whole  work  of  the  minister  in  a  practical  way  in  The 
Building  of  the  Church  (New  York:-  Macmillan,  19 10). 

I.      HQMILETICS 
I.      DEFINITION   AND    SCOPE 

Homiletics  is  the  formulation  of  the  laws  of  effective  pulpit 
discourse.  It  is  a  science,  while  preaching  is  an  art.  The  two 
cannot  be  divorced.  Homiletics  does  not  impose  its  rules  upon 
the  preacher,  but  the  effective  preacher  furnishes  the  data  for 
the  homiletician,  whose  business  it  is  to  observe  the  principles 
that  actually  obtain  in  successful  preaching.  The  popular 
preacher  who  is  fond  of  declaring  that  he  never  studied 
homiletics  and  that  he  breaks  all  the  rules  of  the  schools  is  a 
valuable  piece  of  laboratory  material.  He  is  like  the  poet  who 
sings  metrically  without  understanding  prosody,  like  the 
artist  who  paints  effectively  without  studying  anatomy 
and  design,  like  the  singer  who  charms  us  although  he  has 
not  learned  the  niceties  of  technique.  The  probabihty  is  that 
he  has  some  glaring  faults  which  could  be  removed  by 
the  comparative  study  of  other  effective  preachers.  It  is 
the  humble  task  of  homiletics,  not  to  tell  the  master  of  assem- 
blies how  to  do  his  work,  but  to  note  the  elements  of  effective- 
ness in  different  masters  with  a  view  to  determining  what 
constitutes  the  power  of  the  pulpit  over  the  hearts  of  men. 

The  study  evidently  involves  a  knowledge  of  theology,  of 
exegesis,' of  literary  and  historical  criticism,  of  the  history 
of  the  pulpit,  of  the  movements  of  modern  thought,  and  of 
general  and  social  psychology. 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  583 

2.      THE   MODERN   CONCEPTION   OF   THE    SERMON 

Change  from  the  idea  of  derivation  of  doctrine  from 
Scripture. — The  conception  of  the  sermon  depends  upon  the 
conception  of  religion.  When  the  dominant  idea  was  that  of 
a  plan  of  salvation  authoritatively  contained  in  the  Bible  and 
to  be  found  impHcitly  or  explicitly  in  every  part  of  the  Bible, 
then  the  business  of  the  pulpit  was  to  expound  a  text  of  Scrip- 
ture with  reference  to  its  bearing  upon  some  element  of 
redemptive  doctrine.  The  procedure  of  the  sermon  was  there- 
fore determined  by  its  function.  First  of  all  the  exact  mean- 
ing of  the  text  must  be  set  forth,  then  the  doctrine  to  be 
derived  from  the  text  must  be  stated  and  defended,  then  the 
practical  application  of  the  doctrine  must  be  made.  But  when 
religion  is  freed  from  intellectualism  and  becomes  a  matter 
of  attitude,  motive,  experience,  faith  in  a  God  not  of  the 
dead  but  of  the  living,  the  sermon  makes  a  different  appeal. 
It  finds  its  authority  in  experience,  in  conscience,  in  the  eternal 
yea,  which  is  man's  affirmation  of  the  truth  which  finds  him. 
The  sermons  of  Phillips  Brooks  should  be  read  for  this  quality. 

The  trend  away  from  apologetic  preaching. — The  modern 
sermon,  therefore,  is  not  apologetic.  The  preacher  does  not 
think  of  himself  as  set  for  the  defense  of  the  faith  but  for  the 
stimulation  of  faith.  The  aim  of  the  sermon  is  to  secure,  not 
the  agreement  of  the  hearer  with  the  views  of  the  preacher, 
but  an  honest  consideration,  unbiased  by  prejudice  and  selfish- 
ness, of  the  rehgious  problem  involved  in  the  discourse.  For 
example,  the  modern  sermon  is  not  concerned  to  explain  and 
defend  a  certain  theory  of  biblical  inspiration,  which  is  after 
all  a  piece  of  dialectics,  but  rather  to  make  the  Scriptures  a 
motive  power  in  human  life.  The  one  might  result  in  an 
acceptance  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible,  the  other  would 
lead  to  a  recognition  of  its  availability. 

Preaching  from  experience. — "The  true  preacher  can  be 
known  by  this,  that  he  deals  out  to  the  people  his  life — life 
passed  through  the  fire  of   thought."    The   last  phrase  is 


584        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

important,  and  expresses  that  which  distinguishes  the  sermon 
from  exhortation.  The  preacher  is  a  man  of  rehgious  experi- 
ence who  has  drunk  deep  of  the  wells  of  religious  inspiration; 
he  knows  the  modern  world  in  which  he  lives ;  he  talks  to  the 
people  persuasively  of  those  religious  and  moral  certitudes 
which  he  knows  will  illumine  the  personal  and  social  prob- 
lems of  their  lives. 

Literature. — ^The  writer  may  refer  to  his  essay,  "The  Need  of  Power 
in  American  Preaching,"  in  University  of  Chicago  Sermons  (Chicago: 
The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  191 5). 

3.      THE  PLACE  OF  THE  BIBLE  IN  MODERN  PREACHING 

The  historical  study  of  the  Bible. — The  modern  view  of  the 
Bible  as  presented  in  the  chapters  of  this  book  dealing  with 
the  study  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  involves  a  change 
in  its  pulpit  use.  It  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  a  storehouse 
of  texts.  It  must  be  used  as  a  hterature,  the  product  of 
definite  social  situations,  and  must  be  used  in  accordance  with 
the  canons  of  literary  quotation.  Regarding  any  biblical 
statement  we  must  always  ask  two  questions:  What  did  the 
writer  mean  ?  and  What  was  the  situation  which  made  such 
meaning  significant  ?  Then  we  may  consider  its  contribution 
to  our  own  needs.  The  wise  minister  will  therefore  be  regu- 
larly engaged  in  some  phase  of  Bible-study,  which  he  will 
pursue  scientifically  with  the  aid  of  the  best  literature  that 
he  can  secure. 

The  Bible  as  a  literature  of  power. — As  soon  as  one  ceases 
to  think  of  the  Bible  as  a  repository  of  redemptive  facts  and 
appreciates  its  significance  as  a  revelation  of  spiritual  experi- 
ence, its  value  for  the  sermon  is  transformed.  We  look  now, 
not  for  a  text  from  which  to  deduce  a  theme,  but  for  a  con- 
tact with  the  human  heart  in  its  need  or  in  its  power.  ■  Here 
is  the  whole  gamut  of  religious  experience  from  the  ecstasy 
of  rapt  fellowship  with  God  to  the  cry  of  skepticism  and 
despair,  from  the  sober  consideration  of  prudent  principles 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  585 

of  conduct  to  the  splendid  self-sacrifice  of  heroic  devotion. 
And  here  is  the  experience  of  Jesus  in  whom  by  faith  we  see 
God.  On  the  basis  of  such  an  appreciation  of  the  biblical 
literature  the  minister  prepares  his  sermon.  He  does  not 
have  to  hunt  for  a  text.  His  bibHcal  study  is  constantly  fur- 
nishing him  with  great  suggestions.  Of  course  he  keeps  these 
recorded  as  they  occur,  for  the  best  thoughts  have  wings  and 
must  be  caught  as  they  fly. 

The  enlarged  opportunity  of  expository  preaching. — 
The  superficial  acceptance  of  the  new  view  of  the  Bible  has 
led  some  preachers  to  a  diminished  use  of  it.  But  the  his- 
torical approach  gives  opportunity  for  a  more  vital  and  more 
interesting  expository  preaching.  The  wonderful  Hfe  of  that 
oriental  past,  with  its  essential  humanness  and  its  many  points 
of  contact  with  our  own  day,  affords  admirable  opportunity 
for  the  illustration  of  moral  attitudes  toward  life.  In  recent 
years  there  have  been  some  notable  exhibitions  of  the  finest 
kind  of  exposition  in  the  pulpit.  Witness  the  work  of  George 
Adam  Smith  and  C.  R.  Brown  and  the  interest  of  the  "Short 
Course  Series."  The  cultivation  of  the  social  imagination 
by  the  presentation  of  the  way  in  which  religious  men  met 
the  problems  of  other  days  is  excellent  education  for  the 
modern  man. 

The  place  of  the  text. — Early  Christian  preaching  was 
entirely  expository.  The  text  was  a  considerable  unit  of 
Scripture.  But  the  development  of  doctrinal  preaching 
led  to  the  selection  of  the  single  verse  or  phrase  from  which 
the  all-important  doctrine  was  to  be  deduced.  Thus  the 
sermon  came  to  have  its  authority  from  its  derivation  from 
the  Bible.  If  the  preacher  desired  to  preach  upon  a  theme 
which  was  not  treated  in  the  Bible  he  had  to  find  a  text  which 
by  some  homiletic  ingenuity  he  could  accommodate  to  his 
purpose.  The  modem  pulpit  is  less  rigid  in  its  devotion  to 
the  text.  Most  ministers  who  desire  to  speak  upon  a  subject 
which  is  not  treated  in  the  Scripture  are  honest  enough  not  to 


586        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

pretend  that  it  is  treated  there.  The  omission  of  the  text  on 
such  occasions  is  a  sign  of  respect  for  the  Bible.  It  may  be 
hoped  that  this  freedom  will  do  away  with  the  foolishness  of 
accommodated  texts. 

4.      DOCTRINAL  PREACHING 

Doctrine  and  experience. — Doctrine  in  religion  is  suffering 
the  usual  fate  of  the  deposed  autocrat  with  "none  so  poor  to 
do  him  reverence."  In  the  determination  to  be  freed  from 
creeds  that  were  imposed  from  without  men  have  declared 
that  they  will  have  none  of  them.  But  that  would  be  intel- 
lectual anarchy.  The  only  way  to  escape  from  doctrine  is  to 
give  up  thinking,  for  doctrine  is  nothing  but  formulated 
experience.  All  men  have  their  doctrines — ^economic,  social, 
pohtical,  legal,  medical,  pedagogical.  As  soon  as  we  say  that 
we  believe  in  a  minimum  wage  for  women  we  have  laid  down 
a  doctrine.  The  objection  to  the  creed  is  that  it  formu- 
lates doctrine  once  and  for  all,  as  if  human  experience  were 
complete.  Not  only  is  human  experience  changing  with 
changing  conditions,  but  the  contribution  which  the  past 
furnishes  to  the  experience  of  today  is  itself  modified  by  our 
new  interpretations  of  the  past.  What  men  need,  therefore, 
is  doctrine  that  will  formulate  the  meaning  of  life  as  the 
thinking  of  the  past  and  the  deepest  religious  insight  of  the 
present  enable  us  to  understand  it. 

Christian  doctrine  and  modern  thought. — Faith  and  science 
apprehend  truth  differently  but  not  independently.  Each 
of  them  contributes  to  experience.  Faith  which  does  not 
take  account  of  the  facts  of  life  is  a  will-o'-the-wisp  and  its 
doctrines  are  foohshness.  The  minister  must  therefore  be 
a  scholar.  His  knowledge  of  human  history  and  hterature,  of 
the  physical  and  social  sciences,  of  philosophy  and  psychology, 
will  give  him  the  intellectual  equipment  that  will  enable  him  to 
distinguish  between  the  things  that  we  can  know  and  the  things 
that  we  may  believe.     Guarded  thus  from  intellectual  pre- 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  587 

sumption,  faith  goes  forth  upon  its  daring  course,  and  the 
preacher  confidently  but  humbly  tells  the  people  what  he 
believes  about  God,  Christ,  Providence,  regeneration,  prayer, 
spiritual  communion,  human  worth  and  destiny,  and  the 
other  supreme  themes  of  human  interest.  The  minister 
must  guard  himself  most  carefully  at  this  point.  He  is  the  one 
speaker  who  may  proceed  without  interruption  and  close 
without  rejoinder.  Let  him  cultivate  the  art  of  self-criticism. 
Let  him  be  sure  that  he  distinguishes  between  what  he  knows 
and  what  he  believes.  Then  he  may  speak  with  freedom 
and  with  power. 

Practical  character  of  the  doctrinal  sermon. — The  preacher 
does  not  very  much  impart  information ;  he  communicates  the 
teachings  of  rehgious  experience.  Of  course  these  are  founded 
upon  knowledge,  and  one's  religious  convictions  must  con- 
stantly be  brought  to  the  test  of  the  severest  intellectual 
criticism.  But  the  preacher  is  not  a  theological  lecturer.  As 
a  teacher  in  classes  and  conferences  he  seeks  clear  thinking. 
As  a  preacher  he  is  not  so  much  concerned  with  correct  think- 
ing as  with  religious  attitude.  His  purpose  is  not  that  his 
hearers'  conception  of  the  person  of  Christ  shall  be  the  same 
as  his  own,  but  that  the  spiritual  lordship  of  Jesus  shall  be  sig- 
nificant to  them.  He  is  not  seeking  an  agreement  upon  a  theory 
of  prayer,  but  a  common  appreciation  of  the  value  of  prayer. 
He  is  trying  to  make  truth  plain,  but  his  chief  purpose  is  to 
make  it  vital.  He  can  generally  test  his  success  in  this  en- 
deavor by  estimating  the  practical  effect  of  the  sermon  upon 
himself.  He  preaches  best  to  others  who  preaches  first  of  all 
to  himself. 

5.      EXmCAL   PREACHING 

The  new  ethical  emphasis. — The  object  of  doctrinalpreach- 
ing  not  only  goes  beyond  intellectual  comprehension  to  an 
experience  of  the  doctrine  but  generally  farther  still  to  some 
activity  which  is  the  result  of  the  experience.  The  habit  of 
mind  of  our  age  connects  religion  with  duty.     Those  who 


588        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

desire  to  connect  religion  with  creed  feel  themselves  to  be 
opposing  the  trend  of  the  times,  albeit  they  may  deplore  the 
condition.  But  even  such  always  preach  that  faith  without 
works  is  dead.  The  essentially  practical  character  of  the 
Bible  has  been  rediscovered  and  Christianity  is  more  and 
more  preached  today  as  a  "Way"  of  hfe. 

The  new  social  emphasis. — The  latest  response  of  the  pul- 
pit is  to  the  awakened  social  consciousness  of  our  time.  The 
ethics  of  the  pulpit  has  been  individuahstic.  To  be  sure,  in 
temperance  work,  in  poHtical  and  missionary  utterances, 
preachers  have  often  struck  the  social  note,  as  they  did  a 
generation  ago  in  the  conflict  with  slavery.  But  the  larger 
social  problems  involved  in  the  comphcated  economic  and 
industrial  conditions  of  today  have  rather  dismayed  the  min- 
ister. Some  have  rushed  in  and  made  themselves  ridiculous. 
Most  preachers  have  decided  that  social  reform  was  none  of 
their  business.  A  few  great  voices  have  really  spoken  with 
prophetic  power.  The  modern  ministry  is  trying  to  find  itself 
in  this  new,  difficult  situation.  There  are  three  elements  in 
the  congregation:  those  whose  ethical  outlook  is  still  entirely 
individuahstic  and  who  can  only  connect  religion  with  personal 
duty;  those  whose  controlling  social  passion  demands  a  social 
gospel;  and  the  great  mass  who  are  just  awakening  to  a  sense 
of  social  responsibility  and  who  find  unexpected  vitality  in  a 
preaching  that  strikes  the  note  of  faith  in  the  salvation  of 
human  society.  Rauschenbusch  has  done  this  most  effectively 
in  his  two  books — ^which  are  really  sermons,  though  not  homi- 
letic  in  form — Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1907)  and  Christianizing  the  Social  Order  (New 
York:    Macmillan,  19 12). 

Religion  and  morality  in  modem  preaching. — The  lead- 
ing preachers  of  today  recognize  the  danger  that  the  larger 
ethical  and  social  interest  may  become  a  substitute  for  reli- 
gion, and  that  the  gospel  may  thus  become  a  program  instead 
of  a  revelation.     They  are  therefore  seeking  the  social  dynamic 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  589 

in  a  reaffirmation  of  the  great  religious  certitudes.  Thus 
preachers  are  inspired  by  the  recognition  of  the  unity  of  the 
rehgious  and  social  passion  in  the  Hebrew  prophets.  They 
are  putting  new  emphasis  on  the  idea  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 
as  at  once  a  rehgious  and  a  social  concept.  They  are 
reinterpreting  "the  Coming  Age"  of  the  New  Testament  in 
terms  of  the  modern  world.  This  may  be  seen  in  the  preach- 
ing of  Clifford,  Horton,  Ingram,  Coffin,  and  Gordon. 

6.      EVANGELISTIC   PREACHING 

The  evangelist  the  least  responsive  to  the  modern  spirit. — 

Evangehstic  preaching  is  that  form  of  pulpit  appeal  which  is 
designed  to  induce  persons  who  are  not  controlled  by  religious 
motives  to  desire  and  decide  to  become  so.  The  problem  then 
is  the  awakening  of  the  desire  and  its  stimulation  to  the  point 
of  decision.  To  what  motive  shall  the  immediate  appeal  be 
made?  Manifestly  the  strong  primal  motives  of  fear  and 
self-regard  form  the  easiest  avenues  of  approach.  His- 
torically the  hell  and  heaven  motives  have  been  splendidly 
efficient.  And  the  opportunity  of  giving  adhesion  to  a  plan 
of  salvation  has  afforded  the  necessary  initial  act  which  has 
launched  the  penitent  upon  a  new  current  of  experience. 
That  notable  results  of  ethical  achievement  and  spiritual 
regeneration  are  obtainable  by  this  process  the  history  of 
evangehcahsm  abundantly  attests.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  danger  of  a  dependence  upon  a  magical  salvation  pro- 
vided and  not  achieved,  concerned  with  the  future  life  and 
not  with  the  present,  has  been  all  too  pitifully  evident.  But 
our  modern  perplexity  is  of  another  kind.  The  eternal  truths 
underlying  the  ideas  of  heaven  and  hell  and  underlying  the 
conception  of  substitutionary  atonement  are  profoundly  real 
to  the  thoughtful  mind,  but  superficially  these  ideas  are  not 
acceptable  to  modern  men.  The  preaching  of  the  fire  of  hell 
may  obscure  rather  than  vivify  the  fact  of  retribution.  The 
commercial   presentation   of   the   atonement   may   not   help 


590        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

men  to  appreciate  the  passion  of  God.  The  reinterpretation 
of  these  appeals  to  fundamental  motives  is  the  need  of  today, 
but  the  popular  evangelist  still  pursues  the  easier  method.  To 
be  sure,  the  majority  of  men  do  not  live  altogether  in  the 
modern  world,  and  they  may  still  respond  to  the  old  appeals. 
But  the  condition  is  fraught  with  peril. 

Some  significant  trends. — There  are  not  wanting  evi- 
dences of  better  things.  Some  of  our  most  flamboyant 
evangelism  connects  itself  definitely  with  social  righteousness, 
e.g.,  "cleaning  up  the  town."  Evangelistic  campaigns  some- 
times eliminate  the  saloons.  The  evangelism  of  the  Men 
and  Religion  Forward  Movement  was  largely  free  from  the 
crass  theologizing  of  the  past  and  struck  a  definite  social  note. 
The  great  Sunday-school  world  is  getting  away  from  the  idea 
of  evangelizing  children  and  is  seeking  their  spiritual  awaken- 
ing and  culture.  Wise  ministers  without  any  campaigns  are 
presenting  worthy  motives  for  the  religious  life,  and  men  and 
women  are  responding.  And  most  significant  of  all  the  great 
Student  Movement  throughout  the  world  has  given  up  the  old 
appeal  entirely  and  is  presenting  Christianity  as  Jesus'  Way, 
to  be  followed  in  humble  and  joyous  fellowship  with  God. 
Beecher  and  Bushnell  did  that  in  their  day.  Drummond  did 
it.     Dawson,  Jefferson,  Ingram,  Mott,  are  so  preaching  today. 

The  problem  of  content. — We  need  a  vital  evangelistic 
message,  and  we  shall  get  it  by  making  all  preaching  evangehs- 
tic.  The  great  social  motive  must  become  supreme  and  the 
pulpit  must  summon  men  to  come  with  penitent  hearts  and 
clean  hands  because  such  are  needed  in  the  great  crusade. 
After  all  it  is  but  a  modernizing  of  the  splendid  appeal, 
"Repent  because  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  coming  near." 

7.   THE  FORM  OF  THE  MODERN  SERMON 

The  modification  of  the  traditional  form. — The  traditional 
form  of  text,  proposition,  proof,  application,  belongs  to  the 
conception  of  the  sermon  as  a  derivation  of  doctrine  from  the 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  591 

Bible  and  the  application  of  it  to  life.  With  the  changed 
conception  there  follows  change  in  form.  There  need  be 
no  text.  The  text  may  be  a  great  spiritual  utterance  with  a 
literary  rather  than  a  logical  relation  to  the  theme  of  the 
sermon.  There  may  be  no  proposition  to  be  defended,  and  so 
the  logical  homiletic  steps  of  proof — first,  secondly,  thirdly — 
may  be  unnecessary.  And  the  whole  sermon  may  be  applica- 
tion. It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  one  finds  much 
greater  variety  in  modem  preaching  than  would  have  been 
possible  in  a  former  day.  There  is  a  tendency  to  approxi- 
mate the  ordinary  forms  of  public  speech.  It  is  a  reproach  to 
say  that  a  man  has  a  pulpit  tone  or  manner.  He  does  not 
wish  to  be  called  a  sermonizer.  He  finds  his  inspiration,  not  in 
the  scholastic  preachers,  but  in  the  prophets  of  righteousness. 
He  speaks  as  man  to  man  in  the  way  of  genuine  eloquence. 
Phillips  Brooks  is  the  most  conspicuous  example  of  this. 

The  continuance  of  traditional  forms. — And  yet  the 
sermon  has  still  a  form  of  its  own  and  is  likely  to  retain  it. 
The  Bible  is  the  only  book  for  the  pulpit.  The  sermon  still 
begins  with  some  great  word  from  that  treasure-house  of 
spiritual  experience.  And  it  is  still  vital  with  Scripture 
reference  and  illustration.  The  sermon  is  not  quite  hke  other 
speech.  We  listen  to  lectures  from  men  who  are  capable  of 
giving  us  information  or  of  entertaining  us;  we  listen  to 
speeches  from  advocates  of  a  cause;  but  only  in  the  sermon 
do  we  let  a  man  open  his  heart  to  us  and  summon  us  to  right- 
eousness and  faith.  A  certain  hereditary  character  will 
therefore  always  give  form  to  the  sermon.  In  the  hands  of  the 
skilled  preacher  this  will  not  be  obtrusive;  with  the  less  able 
the  conventional  form  will  naturally  be  more  evident.  Van 
Dyke  is  an  especially  good  example  of  a  preacher  who  uses 
largely  the  conventional  form,  yet  in  such  a  way  that  his  ser- 
mon seems  genuine  speech.  Spurgeon,  with  his  wonderful 
spontaneity,  does  not  read  well,  because  of  his  stilted  homiletic 
form. 


592        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

8.      THE   NEW   HOMILETICS 

Declining  emphasis  of  old  distinctions. — It  is  evident  that 
the  task  of  homiletics  is  a  new  one.  The  division  of  sermons 
into  textual,  topical,  narrative,  special,  is  no  longer  significant. 
Indeed,  few  preachers  have  a  clear  understanding  of  what  was 
involved  in  the  distinction  between  topical  and  textual. 
Practically,  a  sermon  either  starts  from  a  text  which  stirs  the 
preacher's  imagination  and  gives  him  a  theme  which  he  devel- 
ops, or  it  starts  from  some  other  germinal  thought  for  which 
he  may  seek  an  appropriate  text  at  any  time  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  sermon.  There  is  no  vital  difference  between  the 
two.  If  the  divisions  of  the  sermon  should  be  derived  from 
the  text,  that  is  quite  an  incidental  matter. 

Expository  preaching  has  still  a  certain  distinctness.  It 
involves  interesting  problems  of  historical  interpretation, 
social  imagination,  and  rhetorical  unity.  More  work  ought 
to  be  done  in  the  training  of  good  expository  preachers. 

The  message  of  the  preacher. — Formerly  exegetics  and 
theology  furnished  a  man  his  message,  while  homiletics  gave 
him  his  method  of  presentation.  But  if  the  message  is  to  come 
from  a  preacher's  experience,  the  most  fundamental  homiletic 
problem  is  not  one  of  manner  but  of  matter.  The  most  fre- 
quent failure  of  the  pulpit  has  been,  not  in  that  a  man  has 
spoken  badly,  but  in  that  he  has  had  nothing  to  say.  It  is  the 
duty  of  homiletics  to  study  the  content  of  the  messages  that 
are  stirring  the  souls  of  men. 

The  place  of  formal  homiletics. — The  ministry  is  par 
excellence  the  speaking  profession.  Lawyers  and  politicians 
speak  a  great  deal,  but,  except  on  important  occasions,  do 
not  deliver  carefully  prepared  discourses.  There  is  little 
attention  to  form  in  the  argument  addressed  to  a  court  or  in 
much  of  parliamentary  debating.  But  the  necessity  which  is 
upon  the  preacher  to  dehver  regularly  two  discourses  every 
week  upon  the  same  general  theme,  within  the  limited  space  of 
about  thirty  minutes,  and  with  a  certain  emotional  quality, 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  593 

constitutes  a  demand  for  a  severe  study  of  form.  Thus  the 
ordinary  training  in  rhetoric  and  elocution  must  be  extended 
to  a  careful  study  of  the  methods  of  religious  discourse.  The 
preacher  must  learn  the  principles  of  the  oral  style  of  the 
pulpit,  which  is  at  once  dignified,  earnest,  and  vivacious. 

The  psychology  of  preaching. — After  the  acquisition 
of  correct  habits  of  speech,  the  problem  of  effective  preaching 
is  fundamentally  one  of  psychology.  The  interaction  of  a 
religious  leader  and  the  hearers  of  his  speech  takes  us  to  the 
psychology  of  mood,  apperception,  emotion,  suggestibility, 
the  psychology  of  the  social  consciousness,  and,  in  the  case 
of  more  intense  reUgious  appeal,  to  the  psychology  of  the 
crowd. 

Literature. — Good  books  for  the  preacher  are  James,  Talks  to  Teachers 
on  Psychology  (New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1908);  Mark,  The 
Pedagogics  of  Preaching  (Chicago:  Revell,  191 1);  Scott,  The  Psychology 
of  Public  Speaking  (Chicago:   Privately  published,  1906). 

More  formal  works  are:  A.  Vinet,  Homiletics,  American  ed.  by 
Skinner  (New  York:  Ivison  &  Phinney,  1855),  the  most  significant 
among  the  earlier  treatises  presenting  the  art  of  sacred  rhetoric;  *John  A. 
Broadus,  A  Treatise  on  the  Preparation  and  Delivery  of  Sermons  (New 
York:  Armstrong,  1870,  25th  ed.,  1900),  which  is  a  very  stimulating 
treatment  by  a  master  of  pulpit  eloquence;  Austin  Phelps,  The  Theory 
of  Preaching  (New  York:  Scribner,  1881),  perhaps  the  most  elaborate 
discussion  of  the  older  type  of  sermon. 

On  practical  homiletics  read  T.  H.  Pattison,  The  Making  of  the 
Sermon  (Philadelphia:  American  Baptist  Pub.  Soc,  1898),  which  deals 
with  the  various  classes  of  sermons  as  resulting  from  the  treatment  of  the 
text  and  with  the  various  parts  of  the  sermon;  A.  S.  Hoyt,  The  Work 
of  Preaching  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1905),  a  good  treatment  of  the 
essential  elements  of  preaching;  Vital  Elements  of  Preaching  (New  York : 
Macmillan,  1914),  a  treatment  of  the  psychology  of  preaching  without 
technical  analysis;  David  R.  Breed,  Preparing  to  Preach  (New  York: 
George  H.  Doran  &  Co.,  191 1),  which  is  very  suggestive  as  regards  the 
psychology  of  preaching. 

The  Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching  for  the  most  part  are  not  formal 
treatises.  They  deal  with  special  phases  of  pulpit  ministry.  The  best 
are  Henry  Ward  Beecher,    Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching   (New  York: 


594        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Fords,  Howard  &Hulbert,  1872, 1873, 1874),  a  very  suggestive  treatment; 
*Phillips  Brooks,  Lectures  on  Preaching  (New  York:  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co., 
1877),  which  are  worthy  of  perusal  every  year;  N.  S.  Burton,  In  Pulpit 
and  Parish  (Boston:  Congregational  Pub.  Co.,  1884),  which  presents 
the  great  ideals  of  ministry;  Ian  Maclaren  (John  Watson),  The 
Cure  of  Souls  (New  York:  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.,  1896),  which  gives 
eminently  human  suggestions  from  a  literary  master;  W.  J.  Tucker, 
The  Making  and  the  Unmaking  of  the  Preacher  (Boston:  Houghton 
Mifflin  Co.,  1898),  a  discussion  of  the  conditions  of  modern  preaching; 
George  Adam  Smith,  Modern  Criticism  and  the  Preaching  of  the  Old 
Testament  (New  York:  A.  C.  Armstrong  &  Son,  1899),  a  presentation  of 
the  homiletic  values  of  the  new  Old  Testament;  Charles  R.  Brown,  The 
Social  Message  of  the  Modern  Pulpit  (New  York:  Scribner,  1906),  an 
essay  in  expository  preaching;  *W.  H.  P.  Faunce,  The  Educational  Ideal 
in  the  Ministry  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1908),  which  treats  of  the 
preacher  as  a  teacher;  Charles  Sylvester  Home,  The  Romance  of  Preach- 
ing (New  York:  Revell,  19 14),  an  exposition  of  the  principles  of  preach- 
ing from  a  study  of  a  few  great  masters  at  critical  periods  in  Christian 
history. 

On  the  history  and  criticism  of  preaching  see:  J.  W.  Alexander, 
Thoughts  on  Preaching  (New  York:  Scribner,  1867),  which  is  full  of 
practical  ideas,  valuable  in  illustrations  from  the  great  preachers; 
E.  C.  Dargan,  History  of  Preaching  (New  York:  Hodder  &  Stoughton, 
Vol.  I,  1904  (to  the  Reformation);  Vol.  II,  191 1  (to  the  end  of  the  nine- 
teenth century),  the  best  complete  treatment;  Lewis  O.  Brastow,  Repre- 
sentative Modern  Preachers  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1904);  The  Modern 
Pulpit  (New  York:  George  H.  Doran  &  Co.,  1906),  which  presents 
excellent  discussions  of  six  great  preachers  and  of  the  nineteenth- 
century  pulpit. 

II.      CHURCH   POLITY 
I.      DEFINITION   AND    SCOPE 

Ecclesiology  is  the  historic  name  for  the  science  which 
treats  of  the  organization  of  the  church.  It  was  concerned 
with  the  problems  of  the  origin  of  church  government  and  its 
historical  development,  and  with  all  that  pertained  to  the 
institutional  administration  of  the  church.  Among  more 
elaborately  organized  bodies  the  subject  of  church  law  was  of 
great  importance.     In  the  modern  church,  with  its  greatly 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  595 

enlarged  interests  and  functions,  and  its  numerous  more  or 
less  extra-ecclesiastical  societies,  two  distinct  lines  of  adminis- 
trative interest  emerge: 

1.  The  ecclesiastical  interest. — This  has  to  do  with  the 
question  of  the  orders  of  the  clergy,  the  permanent  con- 
stitution of  the  church,  the  various  courts  and  assemblies 
in  which  authority  is  vested,  and  the  legislation  which  these 
courts  and  assemblies  impose.  Here  also  is  included  the 
consideration  of  the  conditions  necessary  to  church  mem- 
bership and  the  rules  governing  the  administration  of  the 
sacraments. 

2.  The  practical  interest. — The  important  administrative 
problems  of  the  modern  church  as  they  arise  practically  in 
church  work  are,  for  the  most  part,  non-ecclesiastical,  and  are 
concerned  with  economic  efficiency,  adaptation  to  changing 
conditions,  and  the  training  and  employment  of  many  types 
of  expert  leaders. 

These  two  interests  are  so  manifestly  different  that  there  is 
a  convenience  in  treating  them  as  separate  subjects  in  prac- 
tical theology.  The  term  "  ecclesiology  "  may  well  be  dropped 
and  the  traditional  term  "church  polity"  or  "church  polity 
and  law"  employed  for  the  first  of  these,  and  the  more  prac- 
tical term  "church  administration"  for  the  second. 

2.      THE   HISTORIC   PLACE   OF   CHURCH   POLITY 

The  church,  almost  from  the  beginning,  has  been  domi- 
nated by  the  idea  that  its  form  of  government  is  of  divine  origin 
and  of  the  very  essence  of  revealed  religion.  It  has  been  com- 
monly supposed  that  the  New  Testament  presents  a  consistent 
scheme  of  ecclesiastical  organization  intended  to  be  the  stand- 
ard for  all  time.  This  has  been  variously  interpreted  as 
autocratic,  aristocratic,  representative,  democratic;  as  con- 
sisting of  three  orders,  bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacons,  or 
of  only  two  orders,  the  two  terms,  bishop  and  presbyter, 
pertaining    to    the    same    office.      Similar    differences    have 


596        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

obtained  regarding  the  theory  of  the  sacraments.  The  prob- 
lems here  involved  are  evidently  exegetical  and  historical, 
according  as  the  questions  of  New  Testament  language  and 
ecclesiastical  procedure  are  concerned.  '  The  treatment  of 
the  subject  has  been  essentially  apologetic,  for  the  organi- 
zation of  the  given  church  was  to  be  proved  historically 
correct. 

Inasmuch  as  these  questions  have  been  very  prominent 
in  church  consciousness  the  subject  of  church  pohty  has  been 
of  great  importance.  This  importance  is  still  retained  in  those 
sections  of  the  church  which  regard  themselves  as  alone  fol- 
lowing the  form  of  divinely  ordained  organization. 

3.      THE   MODERN   VIEW   OF   CHURCH   POLITY 

In  the  hght  of  modern  New  Testament  research  church 
polity  undergoes  a  transformation  such  as  does  systematic 
theology.  As  we  no  longer  form  a  system  of  Christian  think- 
ing from  New  Testament  proof-texts,  so  neither  can  we  form 
a  system  of  church  government  in  that  way.  As  the  question 
whether  our  theological  thinking  is  efficient  cannot  wait  for 
the  last  word  of  textual,  historical,  and  literary  criticism,  so 
neither  can  the  question  of  the  definite  constitution  of  the 
church.  If  we  cannot  draw  up  an  authoritative  New  Testa- 
ment creed  as  a  basis  for  church  membership,  so  neither  can 
we  designate  authoritative  forms.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  as 
our  modern  theology  is  inspired  by  the  great  Christian  experi- 
ences of  the  creative  personalities  of  its  early  days,  the  New 
Testament  thus  being  of  highest  value  for  our  Christian  think- 
ing, so  is  our  church  organization  given  historical  dignity  and 
high  religious  value  from  the  New  Testament  examples.  And 
the  historic  forms  of  church  initiation  and  sacramental  observ- 
ances have  a  like  significance.  That  is  to  say,  the  same  shifts 
from  external  authority  to  approved  religious  value  have 
occurred  here  as  everywhere  else.  Antiquity  and  tradition 
become  not  regulative  but  meaningful. 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  597 

4.   THE  ECONOMIC  VALUE  OF  CHURCH  POLITY 

The  significance  of  various  church  polities. — Church  polity 
to  the  modem  man  becomes  a  study  in  efficiency,  due  regard 
being  given  to  the  value  for  efficiency  of  emotional  attitudes 
toward  time-honored  and  rehgiously  significant  procedure. 
Christendom  is  composed  of  great  historic  churches,  each  of 
them  with  an  organized  life,  whose  forms  are  dear  to  its  mem- 
bers and  of  definite  rehgious  worth  to  them.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  churches  are  cumbered  with  constitutional  con- 
ditions and  requirements  that  are  irksome  to  large  numbers  of 
religiously  minded  people.  The  modern  study  of  church 
polity,  therefore,  is  concerned  with  estimating  the  economic 
values  of  systems  which  the  historic  process  has  bequeathed 
to  us. 

Denominational  organization. — The  minister  of  each  de- 
nomination will  need  to  understand  in  detail  the  specific  organ- 
ization of  his  body.  In  the  more  highly  organized  bodies 
that  are  under  episcopal  and  presbyterial  control  this  involves 
a  knowledge  of  the  organic  law  of  the  church,  its  officers, 
courts,  modes  of  procedure,  and  of  the  constitution  of  the 
various  boards  by  which  the  denominational  interests  are 
carried  on.  In  the  less  highly  organized  bodies  the  subjects 
for  study  would  be  the  city,  district,  state,  and  national 
organizations,  whose  constitutions  and  interrelations  are  being 
constantly  more  clearly  defined,  and,  in  connection  with  these, 
the  boards  and  societies  to  which  is  committed  the  larger 
denominational  work.  Each  body  has  its  problems  of  denom- 
inational pohcy  which  are  under  discussion  in  the  denomina- 
tional press,  and  at  the  various  conventions  and  assemblies, 
and  which  may  well  constitute  subjects  for  scholarly  investi- 
gation in  practical  theology. 

The  trend  toward  democratization. — Rigid  as  church 
poUties  are  supposed  to  be,  they  are  all  yielding  to  the  modern 
spirit.  There  is  an  unmistakable  trend  in  the  more  highly 
organized  churches  toward  the  determining  of  policy  and  pro- 


598        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

cedure  by  the  membership.  The  democratic  churches  which 
have  developed  extra-ecclesiastical  societies,  whose  govern- 
ment has  been  virtually  oligarchical,  are  taking  possession  of 
those  societies  and  bringing  them  under  popular  control. 
Laymen  are  becoming  more  and  more  significant  in  the  govern- 
ment of  all  churches.  Positions  which  until  recently  could 
have  been  held  only  by  ministers  are  now  held  by  men  who 
regard  ordination  for  themselves  as  undesirable.  With  the 
expanding  influence  of  the  church  into  society,  ordination 
itself  is  becoming  to  some  degree  a  question  of  ecclesiastical 
convenience.  The  basis  of  church  membership  is  being  made 
more  and  more  a  question  of  personal  conscience  and  less  of 
ecclesiastical  conformity. 

The  trend  toward  organized  efficiency. — The  commercial 
word  "efficiency"  is  coming  into  larger  ecclesiastical  use.  On 
any  theory  of  the  New  Testament  only  a  small  part  of  modern 
church  life  can  there  find  its  regulative  constitution.  The 
ever-widening  work  of  the  church  is  constantly  being  carried 
on  under  the  influence  of  economic  considerations.  Those 
churches  that  regarded  themselves  as  pure  democracies  are 
developing  a  denominational  officiahsm  for  the  conduct  of 
missionary  endeavors  which  has  the  efficiency  value  of  episco- 
pacy ;  and  within  the  local  church  work  is  so  organized  under 
committees  and  boards  that  the  ruling  eldership  largely 
obtains.  The  study  of  these  tendencies  and  of  their  meaning 
for  social  progress  constitutes  the  new  and  important  task 
of  church  polity. 

Literature. — Each  denomination  has  its  own  treatise  on  polity.  A 
few  of  the  more  important  may  be  noted.,  F.  N.  Westcott,  Catholic 
Principles  (Milwaukee:  Young  Churchman  Co.,  1902),  is  a  frank 
presentation  of  the  polity  and  order  of  the  Episcopal  church  from  the 
High  Church  standpoint.  It  indicates  the  fundamental  law  of  the 
church.  Doctrines  and  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
(New  York:  Eaton  &  Mains,  1904,  an  official  edition)  is  the  official 
handbook  of  polity  and  order.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South 
has  a  similar  publication.     S.  M.  Merrill,  A  Digest  of  Methodist  Law 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  599 

(New  York:  Eaton  &  Mains,  1900),  is,  as  its  name  implies,  a  brief 
treatise  giving  the  main  points  of  procedure.  W.  H.  Roberts,  Presby- 
terian Digest  (Philadelphia:  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,  1907), 
is  a  monumental  work  dealing  with  the  elaborate  legislation  of  two 
hundred  years  and  codifying  the  law  and  precedent.  Hodge,  What 
Is  Presbyterian  Law?  (Philadelphia:  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication, 
1903),  is  a  brief  working  compendium  of  the  law  and  order  of  the  denomi- 
nation. W.E.  Barton,  Barton's  Manual  (Chicago:  Puritan  Press,  1910), 
is  a  presentation  of  the  polity  of  the  Congregational  church  as  it  is  at 
present  developing  into  greater  efficiency.  This  useful  work  also 
includes  rules  of  order  for  ecclesiastical  assemblies.  While  this  work 
has  been  prepared  for  the  Congregational  denomination,  it  is  valuable 
for  all  forms  of  congregational  polity.  Theodore  G.  Soares,  A  Baptist 
Manual  (Philadelphia:  American  Baptist  Pub.  Soc,  1911),  gives  an 
exposition  of  Baptist  polity  in  its  present  development,  including  a  model 
constitution  for  a  Baptist  church. 

III.      CHURCH   ADMINISTRATION 
I.      DEFINITION   AND   SCOPE 

As  already  indicated,  this  title  might  seem  to  be  synony- 
mous with  church  polity;  but  if  the  latter  term  be  kept  for  the 
study  of  historical  forms  of  church  organization  and  their 
significance  in  the  changing  conditions  of  today,  we  may  con- 
veniently discuss  under  church  administration  the  problems  of 
the  organization  of  modern  church  life. 

With  the  enlarging  activities  in  the  church,  the  develop- 
ment of  distinct  types  of  churches,  the  relation  of  the  church 
to  the  welfare  and  reformative  movements  of  the  time,  and 
the  emphasis  on  the  expressive  aspect  of  religion,  this  subject 
has  attained  great  importance.  The  efficiency  of  the  minister 
today  is  to  no  small  extent  a  question  of  administrative  ability. 

2.      CHURCH   TYPES 

The  complexity  of  church  administration  arises  from  the 
fact  that  the  social  conditions  of  our  day  have  inevitably  pro- 
duced different  types  of  churches.  We  no  longer  have  simply 
large  and  small  churches,  those  of  cultured  people  and  those 


6oo        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  the  less  educated,  all  of  which  may  be  virtually  of  the  same 
type  calling  for  exactly  the  same  kind  of  administration;  but 
we  have  very  marked  diversities  of  condition  which  demand 
new  organization  and  activity. 

The  family  church. — The  traditional  American  church 
still  continues  in  the  towns,  in  the  small  cities,  and  in  the 
suburbs  of  large  cities.  While  it  has  some  new  and  very 
pressing  religious  responsibilities  in  the  direction  of  relating 
itself  to  the  social  progress  of  our  times,  its  administrative 
problems  are  relatively  simple,  having  to  do  with  efficient  sys- 
tems of  finance,  the  organization  of  the  membership  in 
significant  activities,  and  the  newer  opportunities  of  religious 
education,  largely  conceived. 

The  downtown  church. — The  crowding  of  metropolitan 
sections  has  resulted  in  the  recession  of  the  well-to-do  classes 
into  exclusive  residence  districts  and  into  suburbs.  The 
great  church  which  at  one  time  included  the  ablest  people  of 
the  city  becomes  stranded  in  a  boarding-house  district.  The 
gravest  administrative  problems  immediately  arise.  The 
population  is  larger  than  ever,  the  religious  need  is  greater  than 
ever,  the  necessity  of  expert  leadership  is  enhanced.  Money 
must  be  raised  in  excess  of  what  the  ordinary  congregations 
can  supply.  Teachers  and  workers  of  a  higher  grade  than  the 
neighborhood  can  furnish  are  required.  In  the  contest  with 
cheap  amusement,  and  among  a  population  in  which  no  family 
ties  contribute  to  church  allegiance,  the  advertising  and 
follow-up  methods  of  business  life  become  imperative.  The 
pastor,  while  endeavoring  to  keep  a  study,  must  have  also  an 
office.  He  must  have  an  assistant,  a  secretary,  a  stenographer, 
filing-cabinets,  card  catalogues,  etc.  The  administration  of 
such  a  church  becomes  a  serious  and  complicated  problem. 

The  institutional  church. — The  downtown  church  usually 
finds  that  it  has  opportunity  and  necessity  to  make  larger 
appeal  to  its  parish  than  the  conventional  church  ordinarily 
undertakes.     The  problem  of  evil  amusement  must  be  met 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  60 1 

by  the  provision  for  healthful  recreation,  athletic,  social, 
dramatic.  The  natural  gathering  of  young  people  into  groups 
and  societies  can  be  very  well  supervised  by  the  church. 
Industrial  classes,  vocational  classes,  and  various  other  educa- 
tional opportunities  may  be  provided.  The  church  may  even 
become  an  employment  agency,  a  bank,  a  boarding-house 
registry — it  may  do  anything  for  the  welfare  of  the  community. 
Such  highly  developed  churches  have  been  rather  infelicitously 
called  institutional.  It  is  manifest  that  the  administrative 
problems  of  such  organizations  are  increasingly  complex. 
Large  funds  have  to  be  raised,  many  experts  have  to  be  em- 
ployed. Considerable  inventiveness  and  initiative  are  neces- 
sary to  keep  it  in  the  current  of  the  community  life. 

The  union  church. — There  are  numerous  conditions  in 
which  Protestantism  finds  itself  unable  to  maintain  its 
life  in  its  present  divided  state.  Sometimes  in  the  down- 
town district,  more  often  in  the  sparsely  settled  suburbs, 
quite  generally  in  the  new  community,  it  is  simply  impossible 
that  there  should  be  four  or  five  denominational  churches. 
The  necessities  of  the  case  result  in  a  return  to  the  parish 
church  in  which  denominational  affiliations  are  either 
minimized  or  abandoned,  and  in  which  the  conditions  of 
membership  are  the  broad  spiritual  requirements  of  common 
Christianity.  The  problems  of  organization  here  arise  from 
the  peculiar  necessity  of  adapting  the  church  to  its  local 
situation. 

The  rural  church. — It  has  been  a  question  whether  the 
country  church  could  survive.  The  movement  of  the  chil- 
dren of  former  church  members  to  the  cities,  the  tenancy  of 
farms  by  foreigners,  the  emphasis  of  denominationalism  in 
the  face  of  lessening  numbers,  have  been  serious  causes  of  the 
decline  of  the  country  church.  But  there  are  encouraging 
signs  that  the  country  church  has  a  great  future.  With  the 
development  of  social  interests  in  the  farming  communities 
a  new  type  of  church  much  the  same  as  the  institutional  church 


6o2        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  the  cities  has  a  great  opportunity  to  contribute  to  the  en- 
largement of  life,  intellectual,  aesthetic,  recreational,  as  well 
as  specifically  moral  and  religious.  If  the  economic  handi- 
caps of  denominationalism  can  be  overcome,  there  are  possi- 
bilities of  the  development  of  a  vigorous  church  life  under 
spiritual  leadership.  If  this  is  to  be  done,  it  is  evident  that 
men  of  unusual  strength  must  devote  themselves  to  the  pas- 
toral management  of  such  churches,  and  that  they  must  have 
a  peculiar  training  which  will  fit  them  to  understand  thor- 
oughly the  problems  of  the  communities  which  they  serve. 
Interesting  suggestions  are  being  made  regarding  a  possible 
alliance  between  the  theological  seminary  and  the  agricultural 
school  in  the  training  of  the  country  minister, 

3.      SPECIALISM   IN   THE   MINISTRY 

It  is  evident  that  whatever  interest  may  still  attach  to  the 
significance  of  the  orders  of  the  ministry,  the  actual  conditions 
of  modern  church  life  compel  attention  to  the  different  types 
of  ministry.  Of  these  there  are  at  least  four:  the  preacher, 
the  teacher,  the  pastor,  and  the  administrator.  One  of  the 
most  difficult  problems  before  us  today  lies  in  this  necessity 
of  specialism. 

The  preaching  ministry. — The  question  as  to  whether  the 
preaching  function  of  the  ministry  may  be  maintained  never 
arises  in  the  presence  of  a  real  preacher.  He  dominates  the 
situation.  He  is  the  minister,  and  whoever  else  may  be  in- 
cluded in  the  leadership  of  the  church  are  his  assistants.  It 
not  infrequently  happens  that  the  orator  has  less  fitness  for 
the  other  functions  of  the  ministry,  and  inefficiency  may  there- 
fore result. 

The  teaching  ministry. — The  developing  educational  work 
of  the  church  demands  peculiar  specialism  entirely  different 
from  that  of  the  preacher.  A  most  significant  administra- 
tive question  today  is  whether  the  church  will  be  willing 
to   put   its   ministry   of   teaching  on   a   par   with   that  of 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  603 

preaching.  In  many  cases  the  educational  leader  is  not 
ordained. 

The  pastoral  ministry. — For  many  reasons  the  preacher 
should  be  the  pastor,  and  yet  this  becomes  increasingly 
difhcult  in  large  churches.  The  service  of  the  pastoral  minis- 
try calls  for  peculiar  gifts  and  abilities,  and  it  cannot  be 
satisfactorily  discharged  by  the  ordinary  assistant  minister. 
Sometimes  by  sheer  force  of  pastoral  goodness  an  indifferent 
preacher  sustains  his  work;  but  there  is  a  possibility  of 
specialism  with  a  significant  place  for  the  real  pastor. 

The  administrative  ministry. — -The  large  and  elaborately 
organized  churches  always  have  various  assistants  in  adminis- 
trative capacities.  An  important  question  is  whether  there  is 
place  for  a  man,  not  necessarily  ordained,  who  by  special 
training  in  the  executive  phases  of  church  life  shall  be  able  to 
take  the  leadership  of  the  church  in  its  great  modern  develop- 
ments. 

4.      CHURCH   ARCmXECTURE 

The  enlargement  of  functions,  with  the  graded  educa- 
tional work  of  the  church,  is  requiring  a  new  type  of  building. 
Our  churchly  feelings  are  stirred  by  the  traditional  forms  of 
ecclesiastical  architecture,  the  Gothic  holding  the  first  place. 
But  the  churchly  structure  is  to  be  an  auditorium,  and  con- 
nected with  it  must  be  opportunities  for  the  religious  exercises 
of  many  different  groups,  together  with  numerous  separated 
classrooms,  and  in  addition  society  rooms,  clubrooms,  kitchen 
and  dining-room,  lecture-room,  and  perhaps  gymnasium, 
bowling-alley,  and  even  swimming-pool.  These  problems  are 
particularly  acute  where  the  needs  of  the  community  call  for  a 
diversified  work,  and  where  the  funds  available  do  not  per- 
mit of  an  elaborate  building.  As  function  must  always 
determine  form  in  every  structure,  it  is  evident  that  new 
and  most  interesting  problems  confront  the  church  architect. 
There  is  necessity  here  for  some  co-operation  between  the 
practical  leaders  of  the  church  and  the  schools  of  architecture. 


6o4        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  latter  have  made  scarcely  any  attempt  to  understand  the 
needs  of  the  modern  church. 


5.      THE    ORGANIZATION   OF   CHURCHES 

The  constitution. — Whether  the  constitution  of  the  local 
church  is  provided  for  it  by  a  larger  body  or  is  the  product  of  its 
own  independent  requirements,  it  will  have  little  relation  to 
the  New  Testament  beyond  a  very  few  central  points,  for  the 
reason  that  the  modern  church  is  concerned  with  so  many 
matters  that  did  not  affect  the  primitive  church.  The  consti- 
tution, therefore,  or  the  by-laws,  or  the  church  rules,  must 
develop  in  accordance  with  the  demands  of  efficiency. 

Group  organizations. — The  important  practical  questions 
regarding  subordinate  organizations  within  the  church  are 
(i)  by  what  authority  they  shall  be  organized,  (2)  to  what 
extent  they  shall  be  supervised,  (3)  what  relation  they  shall 
have  to  other  agencies  of  a  similar  character,  so  that  the 
whole  work  of  the  church  may  be  correlated  without  gaps 
and  without  overlapping. 

Important  developments  of  modern  times  have  been  the 
sex  and  age  differentiations  within  the  church.  The  official 
positions,  the  direction  of  missionary  activity,  the  provision 
of  financial  support  have  been  for  the  most  part  in  the  hands 
of  the  adult  men;  women's  organizations  were  formed  to 
secure  specific  interests  or  service  from  women,  and  later 
came  specific  organizations  to  give  young  people  a  larger 
opportunity.  It  has  finally  become  necessary  to  secure  a 
larger  place  and  activity  for  the  adult  men,  who  were  rather 
left  out  of  account  in  the  multiplying  societies.  Numerous 
men's  organizations  have  therefore  of  late  come  into  being. 

Literature. — The  Efficient  Layman  (Philadelphia:  Griffith  &  Row- 
land, 191 1),  by  H.  F.  Cope,  is  a  good  discussion  of  this  last  development. 
A  book  is  promised  by  F.  O.  Erb,  on  The  Young  People's  Movement 
in  the  Modern  Church,  which  will  deal  with  present  conditions  in  that 
field.     Women's  work  is  discussed  by  Gladden  in  The  Christian  Pastor 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  605 

afid  the  Working  Church  (New  York:   Scribner,  1906),  which  is  still  the 
best  book  on  the  whole  subject  of  church  organizations. 

Financial  methods. — The  church  has  become  a  very 
complicated  financial  organization.  As  endowments  are  few, 
the  large  budgets  must  be  raised  entirely  by  voluntary  con- 
tribution. People  may  have  the  benefit  of  an  expensive 
plant  and  large  ministries,  and  yet  decide  for  themselves 
whether  they  will  pay  anythmg  for  the  privilege.  A  vigorous 
church  may  have  a  dozen  treasuries,  each  needing  to  be  con- 
stantly supplied.  Carelessness  at  any  point  means  disaster. 
No  church  does  good  work  whose  finances  are  mismanaged. 
A  marked  sign  of  religious  vitality  is  the  willingness  of  people 
to  give  in  large  sums  and  constantly  to  the  enterprises  in 
which  they  believe.  Great  importance,  therefore,  attaches 
to  the  orderly  management  of  the  securing  and  disbursing  of 
funds.  Usually  money  for  the  current  expenses  of  the  church, 
regarded  as  a  definite  mdebtedness,  is  kept  distinct  m  fact  and 
in  thought  from  the  missionary  and  philanthropic  contribu- 
tions, regarded  as  benevolence.  But  the  greatest  efficiency 
requires  that  every  member  of  the  church  and  congregation 
shall  be  a  contributor  to  both  of  these.  Regularity  is  also  of 
prime  importance,  and  the  system  of  weekly  givmg  is  be- 
coming more  and  more  common.  Able  business  men  should 
have  these  matters  in  charge,  the  pastor  being  relieved  of  all 
specific  responsibihty.  Subordinate  societies  should  be  sub- 
ject to  some  supervision  as  to  their  financial  affairs.  The 
plan  of  having  a  single  treasury  with  which  all  the  societies 
bank  their  funds  is  receiving  thoughtful  consideration. 

The  organization  of  parochial  work. — Efficiency  in  reli- 
gious work  depends  upon  adequate  skilled  oversight  and 
large  voluntary  activity.  The  church  is  best  conceived  as  an 
organization  of  the  religious  people  of  the  community  for 
the  largest  service  to  the  community.  It  is  organized  friend- 
liness, the  organization  being  necessary  because  of  the  number 
of  friends  and  the  number  to  be  befriended.     Various  methods 


6o6        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

are  in  operation  for  the  division  of  the  church  membership 
for  mutual  acquaintance  and  help  and  for  the  visitation  of 
the  unchurched.  This  is  peculiarly  the  work  of  the  pastor, 
and  one  of  his  largest  opportunities  will  be  in  seeing  that 
every  member  has  some  helpful  duty  assigned  to  him, 
and  that  every  possibility  of  helpfulness  is  adequately 
grasped. 

Literature. — Dr.  Gladden's  The  Christian  Pastor  and  the  Working 
Church  (New  York:  Scribner,  1896,  1906)  is  very  suggestive  in  this 
matter;  also  Mead's  Modern  Methods  in  Church  Work  (New  York: 
Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1896). 

6.      INTERDENOMINATIONAL   RELATIONS         ' 

The  parish. — In  the  days  of  a  single  state  church  the  limits 
of  jurisdiction  and  responsibility  for  each  local  church  ^ere 
readily  defined  upon  a  geographical  basis.  Everyone  within 
that  area  was  in  the  parish  of  the  pastor.  Within  a  given 
denomination  the  territory  is  still  roughly  divided  into  par- 
ishes, and  each  church  is  supposed  to  be  responsible  for  the 
denominational  interests  within  its  more  or  less  uncertainly 
defined  jurisdiction.  Some  very  acute  intradenominational 
problems  are  here  involved,  and  in  many  cases  much  energy 
is  wasted  through  competition  among  churches  of  the  same 
name.  Some  method  of  more  definite  parochial  division  is 
greatly  needed  within  most  of  the  religious  bodies.  The 
problem  is  much  more  acute,  however,  when  from  four  to 
twenty  denominations  are  operating  within  the  same  terri- 
tory. In  communities  where  there  are  enough  members  of 
each  body  to  sustain  a  vigorous  church  there  is  no  particular 
difficulty,  except  that  no  single  church  feels  the  proper  respon- 
sibility for  the  great  mass  of  the  unchurched.  Where  the  popu- 
lation is  not  sufficient  to  sustain  all  the  bodies,  the  condition  is 
often  unsatisfactory  and  sometimes  deplorable.  Movements 
of  comity,  co-operation,  and  union  are  thus  very  much  to  the 
fore. 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  607 

Interdenominational  comity. — Although  rivalry  and  com- 
petition among  Christian  bodies  unhappily  still  continue,  it 
is  being  generally  realized  that  the  religious  situation  of  today 
calls  at  least  for  certain  agreements  and  divisions  of  labor. 
No  church  should  start  an  out-station  where  it  will  rival  a 
similar  undertaking  of  another  body.  In  the  establishment 
of  new  churches  the  religious  needs  of  the  district  should  be 
considered  in  a  broad  way.  The  organization  of  the  Federal 
Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America  is  a  hopeful 
movement  toward  a  more  effective  organization  of  the  Protes- 
tant forces  and  the  elimination  of  useless  and  harmful  compe- 
tition. A  local  council  of  this  federation  ought  to  be  organized 
in  every  community.  The  reports  of  the  Federal  Council  and 
of  its  commissions  ought  to  be  in  the  library  of  every  church 
and  the  subject  of  its  earnest  study. 

Interdenominational  co-operation. — There  are  many  re- 
spects in  which  actual  co-operation  can  take  place,  and  the 
Federal  Council  is  the  best  agency  for  projecting  and  conduct- 
ing plans  to  this  end.  The  unchurched  population  may  be 
definitely  canvassed  and  divided  among  the  churches.  Effort 
may  be  made  to  bring  all  the  children  of  the  community  to  the 
Sunday  school.  A  community  house  may  be  established  for 
recreative  purposes,  or  affiliation  with  the  Christian  Associa- 
tions may  secure  the  same  results.  Evangelistic  campaigns 
may  be  conducted.  Indeed,  unlimited  endeavors  for  com- 
munity betterment  may  be  undertaken  in  this  way.  We  are 
only  at  the  beginning  of  the  possibilities  of  church  co-operation. 
The  newly  awakened  interest  in  religious  education,  concern- 
ing which  there  is  so  little  opportunity  for  difference  of 
opinion,  and  in  which  denominations  markedly  diverse  may 
unite,  is  particularly  favorable  for  this  larger  co-operation. 

Church  unity.— The  Christian  church  is  about  equally 
divided  between  those  who  look  for  the  organic  union  of 
Christian  bodies  as  the  only  possible  ideal  toward  which  to 
strive,  and  those  who  regard  the  division  of  the  church  into 


6o8        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

a  few  great  denominations  as  the  most  reasonable  and  effective 
method  of  promoting  the  reHgious  interests.  Probably  a 
great  deal  of  energy  is  being  employed  in  talk  about  unity  by 
those  who  are  not  willing  to  make  the  slightest  sacrifice  of 
personal  opinion  or  attitude  in  order  to  secure  it.  Some 
very  interesting  attempts  are  actually  being  made,  in  small 
suburbs  and  in  rural  districts,  to  have  a  single  Protestant 
church  connected  with  no  denomination  in  which  the  largest 
liberty  shall  be  permitted  in  the  matter  of  religious  opinion. 
Probably  we  have  not  yet  reached  a  point  where  anything 
more  can  be  said  than  that  each  community  must  endeavor 
to  meet  its  own  problem  in  the  most  economical  and  effective 
way.  If  there  are  a  few  ultra-denominationalists,  a  union 
of  the  churches  would  probably  do  more  harm  than  good, 
and  it  is  a  question  whether  the  failures  have  not  been  as 
significant  as  the  successes.  Some  special  phases  of  this 
problem  will  be  more  properly  discussed  in  connection  with 
missions. 

7.   THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  COMMUNITY 

The  church  and  other  social  institutions. — Many  churches 
do  not  yet  recognize  that  a  great  deal  of  work  which  was  once 
entirely  under  ecclesiastical  control  is  now  more  properly 
undertaken  by  other  agencies.  The  state  is  constantly  assum- 
ing responsibility  for  larger  and  larger  areas  of  social  interests, 
and  of  those  social  activities  which  must  still  be  undertaken 
by  private  organizations  many  appeal  to  a  wider  constituency 
than  that  of  the  religious  community.  All  earnest  citizens 
are  interested  in  kindergartens,  hospitals,  playgrounds,  the 
prevention  of  crime,  the  extinction  of  tuberculosis,  child  wel- 
fare, etc.  The  church  must  not  feel  jealous  of  these  goodly 
endeavors  outside  of  its  own  communion,  but  must  rather 
encourage  its  members  to  enter  into  all  of  them,  inspiring  them 
with  its  own  religious  fervor  and  motive.  It  will  often  be 
desirable  for  the  church  to  hand  over  activities  in  which  it  has 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  609 

been  greatly  interested,  because  a  larger  number  of  persons 
may  thus  be  secured  to  engage  in  them. 

Relation  to  philanthropy  and  moral  education. — While 
there  are  many  social  activities  into  which  the  church  can 
enter  only  through  its  individual  members,  there  are  others 
in  which  it  may  have  a  part  organically.  This  is  particularly 
the  case  as  regards  the  charities  and  juvenile  protective  agen- 
cies. On  account  of  the  personal  character  of  the  relations 
involved  in  these  endeavors,  each  church  may  well  undertake, 
in  connection  with  the  city  or  community  organization,  cer- 
tain specific  responsibilities,  such  as  the  care  and  comfort  of 
particular  families  or  of  particular  children.  This  is  an 
extension  of  its  pastoral  office  which  it  should  eagerly  seek  to 
make.  In  this  way  the  philanthropies  may  be  furthered,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  church  may  secure  the  educational 
opportunity  of  sending  its  own  trained  workers,  clerical  and 
lay  (and  more  and  more  the  latter) ,  into  genuinely  social  en- 
deavors. In  order  to  promote  this  social  interest  the  Survey 
(122  East  Twenty-second  Street,  New  York)  ought  to  be  in 
every  church  library  and  as  far  as  possible  in  every  home. 

Relation  to  political  and  reform  movements. — Great  care 
is  needed  in  relating  the  church  as  an  organization  to  move- 
ments which  involve  specific  political  and  social  theories.  The 
church  is  for  all  the  people,  and  there  are  religious  people  in  all 
the  political  parties  and  on  both  sides  of  many  social  issues. 
Yet  the  church  may  lose  its  moral  leadership  by  being  too 
timorous.  If  some  religious  people  think  that  the  state  has  no 
right  to  regulate  the  labor  of  women  and  children  and  the 
hygienic  conditions  under  which  workmen  shall  be  employed, 
the  church  is  not  obliged  to  hold  itself  silent  in  deference  to 
their  wishes.  We  can  have  no  social  progress  until  we  share 
the  prophetic  passion  for  social  justice.  Perhaps  there  is  no 
more  difficult  problem  before  the  preacher  and  teacher  of 
today  than  the  tactful  yet  courageous  appeal  to  have  the 
church  take  its  place  in  social  reform. 


6 10        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Literature. — ^The  beautiful  spirit  as  well  as  the  keen  analysis  of  the 
books  of  Professor  Rauschenbusch  make  them  valuable  to  the  minister 
and  for  adult  classes  in  the  church.  Read  also  W.  H.  Roberts,  Laws 
Relating  to  Religious  Corporations  (Philadelphia:  Presbyterian  Board  of 
Publication) .  It  is  important  for  the  church  to  understand  its  legal  status. 
This  work  presents  the  statutes  of  the  various  states  as  to  incorporation, 
management,  etc.  It  is  brought  down  only  to  1896.  Washington 
Gladden,  The  Christian  Pastor  and  the  Working  Church  (New  York:  Scrib- 
ner,  1898),  while  concerned  principally  with  the  typical  city  church,  deals 
with  manifold  forms  of  organization  for  religious  efficiency.  In  Parish 
Problems  (New  York:  Century  Co.,  1887)  Dr.  Gladden  has  discussed 
particularly  the  church  in  its  relation  to  its  social  opportunities.  George 
Hodges  and  John  Reichert,  in  The  Administration  of  an  Institutional 
Church  (New  York:  Harper,  1906),  give  a  detailed  account  of  the 
operation  of  St.  George's  Parish,  New  York.  The  book  is  very  suggestive 
in  respect  to  varied  forms  of  church  activity.  W.  H.  WUson,  The 
Church  of  the  Open  Country  (New  York:  Missionary  Education  Move- 
ment, 191 1),  is  the  best  book  dealing  with  the  problems  and  opportunities 
of  the  rural  church.  *Mead,  Modern  Methods  of  Church  Work  (New 
York:  George  H.  Doran  &  Co.,  1896),  is  a  storehouse  of  valuable  sug- 
gestion to  the  minister.  Here  are  brought  together  the  plans  and 
projects  that  have  been  successful  in  various  churches.  Forms  for 
advertising  and  for  various  invitations  are  given,  so  that  the  busy  minis- 
ter may  find  many  matters  worked  out  for  him.  J.  F.  Cowan,  New  Life 
in  the  Old  Prayer  Meeting  (New  York:  Revell,  1906),  on  this  single 
phase  of  church  activity  is  full  of  good  suggestion.  WiUiam  B .  Patterson, 
Modern  Church  Brotherhoods  (New  York:  Revell,  191 1),  deals  with 
the  character  and  opportunity  of  men's  organizations,  which  have  been 
prolific  of  recent  years.  H.  F.  Cope,  The  Efficient  Layman  (Philadel- 
phia: Griffith  &  Rowland  Press,  191 1),  is  another  treatment  of  the  men's 
activities  in  the  church. 


IV.      PASTORAL  CARE 
I.     DEFINITION 

The  division  of  practical  theology  relating  to  the  personal 
and  private  as  distinguished  from  the  organizational  and 
public  work  of  the  ministry  has  been  traditionally  known  as 
poimenics.  It  inevitably  included  the  matters  of  parish 
visitation,  and  even  of  the  relief  of  the  poor,  which  we  should 


\^     - 

PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  5ii 

now  more  naturally  treat  under  the  organization  of  the  church. 
The  subject  may  be  confined  to  the  personal  relations  of  the 
minister  with  the  families  and  members  of  the  church  com- 
munity, and  with  the  individuals  outside  of  the  church  com- 
munity who  may  be  won  to  the  religious  hfe.  As  £)r.  Jefferson 
has  pointed  out  in  his  stimulating  work,  The  Minister  as  Shep- 
herd, it  is  this  important  phase  of  ministerial  duty  which  gives 
such  great  significance  to  the  title  ''pastor."  He  rightly 
holds  that  it  is  the  most  significant  of  all  the  names  which  are 
applied  to  the  professional  leader  of  the  church. 

2.      THE   CURE   OF   SOULS 

The  traditions  of  the  pastoral  office. — The  ancient  phrase, 
"the  cure  of  souls,"  appearing  in  English  at  least  as  early  as 
the  fourteenth  century,  referred,  of  course,  to  the  charge  or 
care  of  the  parishioners  who  were  committed  to  the  ministerial 
oversight.  As  the  magistrate  had  the  care  of  the  temporal 
interests,  so  to  the  priests  were  committed  the  spiritual  inter- 
ests of  the  people. 

As  a  result  of  the  pastoral  charge  given  by  Christ  to  the 
apostles,  by  Paul  to  the  Ephesian  elders,  and  elaborated  in  the 
so-called  Pastoral  Letters,  it  was  the  inevitable  expectation 
of  the  church  that  her  ministers  would  be  the  shepherds  of  the 
spiritual  flock.  The  people  needed  moral  and  religious  guid- 
ance, admonition,  discipline,  comfort,  encouragement.  The 
pastor  was  appointed  that  he  might  minister  to  these  needs. 
In  Hterature,  from  the  Canterbury  Tales  to  The  Deserted  Village, 
wherever  the  good  minister  was  portrayed  it  was  the  faith- 
ful shepherd,  true,  wise,  self-sacrificing,  sometimes  severe, 
always  fearless,  who  led  men  to  righteousness  and  peace. 

Two  great  treatises  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The 
Country  Parson,  by  George  Herbert,  and  The  Reformed  Pastor, 
by  Richard  Baxter,  present  the  ideal  of  the  pastoral  office  in 
the  Protestant  churches,  and  these  two  works,  so  nobly  and 
tenderly  written,  coming  out  of  the  ripe  experience  of  their 


6i2        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

saintly  authors,  will  always  remain  classics  upon  the  subject. 
Here  the  pastor  is  the  teacher  who  must  instruct  the  unlearned; 
he  is  the  spiritual  guide  who  must  counsel  and  admonish  the 
erring;  he  is  the  religious  comforter  who  must  bring  the  con- 
solations of  religion  to  the  sick  and  the  dying;  he  is  the  mes- 
senger of  salvation  who  must  seek  out  the  lost  and  bring  them 
to  repentance  and  faith. 

The  pastoral  office  in  the  modem  world.— The  foregoing 
statement  of  functions  may  seem  at  first  to  relate  to  an  out- 
grown office.  Our  educated  and  democratic  people  are 
little  inclined  to  brook  domination,  and  usually  regard  them- 
selves as  quite  as  well  qualified  to  determine  matters  of 
duty  as  the  minister.  Many  people  feel  that  they  will  be 
glad  to  welcome  their  pastor  at  any  time  as  a  social  visitor, 
but  have  no  desire  for  a  "pastoral  call."  Jefferson  has  made 
a  very  keen  analysis  of  the  problem  in  its  modern  phases  and, 
out  of  the  experience  of  his  busy  metropolitan  ministry,  most 
earnestly  contends  that  the  pastoral  office  is  needed  even  more 
today  than  it  was  in  the  past. 

The  minister  as  priest. — The  modern  minister  is  still  in  a 
certain  sense  a  priest.  With  all  the  changes  that  have  taken 
place  in  his  own  and  in  the  public  estimation  of  his  office,  it  is 
still  true  that  he  is  set  apart  to  hold  a  mediatorial  position 
between  God  and  man — not,  of  course,  in  the  sense  that  he  has 
the  secret  of  approach  to  the  divine  which  is  withheld  from  the 
laity,  but  that  it  is  peculiarly  his  business  to  help  men  to  know 
God  and  to  serve  as  the  interpreter  of  God  to  men.  It  is 
for  him  to  take  in  special  manner  upon  himself  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  people.  However 
successful  he  may  be  as  preacher,  administrator,  teacher, 
lecturer,  promoter  of  worthy  enterprises,  there  remains  the 
personal  relation  to  the  people  who  are  in  need  of  comfort  and 
spiritual  help,  which  it  is  his  peculiar  function  to  mediate. 

The  minister,  after  all,  is  not  quite  the  same  as  other 
men.     He  may  give  up  the  distinctive  ecclesiastical  garb  and 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  613 

many  of  the  traditional  trappings  of  his  office,  but  the  very 
fact  that  he  officiates  on  the  significant  occasions  of  life — at 
marriage,  where  he  pronounces  the  blessing  of  the  church  upon 
man  and  wife;  at  baptism,  whether  of  infant  or  confessor, 
where  he  performs  the  ceremony  of  initiation  into  the  church 
membership;  at  the  burying  of  the  dead,  where  he  speaks  the 
faith  and  hope  of  the  church  in  the  life  to  come — all  this  gives 
him  a  certain  sacerdotal  character  even  in  the  least  ecclesiasti- 
cal communions.  Moreover,  however  carefully  any  semblance 
of  the  confessional  be  avoided,  the  pastor  is,  in  the  nature 
of  the  case,  very  often  the  expert  counselor  in  matters  of 
conscience.  Sophisticated  people  may  insist  that  they  have 
no  need  of  a  priest,  but  the  human  heart  has  not  changed,  and 
many  people  still  have  need  of  the  personal  help  which  the 
appointed  religious  leader  may  afford. 

The  old  phrase,  "  the  consolations  of  religion,"  from  which 
we  have  revolted  a  little  in  our  rightful  insistence  upon  an 
aggressive  Christianity,  stood,  nevertheless,  for  a  fundamental 
human  need.  A  great  many  people  ought  to  be  comforted, 
and  most  of  them  will  welcome  the  effort  if  it  be  wisely  and 
graciously  bestowed.  The  pressure  of  modern  life  has  only 
made  the  common  burdens  more  grievous  to  be  borne.  It  is 
for  the  pastor  to  administer  the  consolation. 

The  consensus  of  opinion  of  the  most  efficient  ministers 
of  today  is  that  more  emphasis  must  be  put  upon  the  pastoral 
function.  They  insist  that  preaching  is  vitalized  by  contact 
with  the  people  in  their  personal  interests  and  needs,  and  that 
no  organization  of  visitation  can  take  the  place  of  the  pres- 
ence of  the  minister  in  the  home.  Of  course  this  raises  the 
serious  problem  of  how  practically  to  secure  such  personal 
relation  with  every  member  of  the  parish  without  the  waste 
of  time  involved  in  mere  social  calling  and  perfunctory  visiting. 

The  pastor  as  friend. — This  is  the  title  of  an  excellent 
chapter  in  Gladden 's  The  Christian  Pastor  and  the  Working 
Church,  in  which  he  discusses  the  subject  of  pastoral  care. 


6i4        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

He  lays  emphasis  upon  the  essential  friendship  of  the  pastoral 
relation.  It  is  a  most  important  conception,  for  it  saves  the 
office  from  the  professional  sacerdotalism  which  robs  it  of  its 
finest  character.  When  the  pastoral  office  is  at  its  best  the 
minister  is  present  in  every  time  of  need  as  a  valued  friend. 
The  people  want  him  because  they  love  him.  He  makes  their 
joys  sweeter  and  their  sorrows  easier  to  bear.  At  the  bedside 
of  the  sick,  in  the  house  of  mourning,  in  the  family  that  is 
waiting  for  the  prodigal  to  return,  in  conversation  with  the 
perplexed  and  with  the  erring,  he  is  the  strong  and  wise  friend, 
every  ready  and  ever  able  to  help. 

One  of  the  supreme  qualities  of  the  minister  is  his  capacity 
for  loving  people,  and  that  includes  liking  them.  Other  men 
may  deal  with  cases;  he  deals  with  persons.  He  is  willing 
to  pay  the  price  in  the  tax  upon  his  sympathy  of  a  wide- 
extended  friendship.  He  is  the  friend  of  those  who  are  rich 
in  friendships,  and  also  of  those  who  are  so  poor  of  friends  that 
they  are  lonely. 

Literature. — The  following  are  of  value:  George  Herbert,  The 
Country  Parson,  an  old  book,  but  very  vital  in  its  gracious  discussion  of 
pastoral  duty;  Richard  Baxter,  The  Reformed  Pastor,  a  book  still 
practical  after  three  hundred  years;  Washington  Gladden,  The  Christian 
Pastor  and  the  Working  Church,  chap,  vii  (New  York:  Scribner,  1898, 
1906);  *Charles  Edward  Jefferson,  The  Minister  as  Shepherd  (New 
York:  Crowell,  191 2),  is  modern,  practical,  eminently  wise  and  evangeli- 
cal; Oswald  Dykes,  The  Christian  Minister  and  His  Duties  (Edin- 
burgh: Clark,  1908),  a  more  formal  work,  but  wise  and  suggestive;  the 
fourth  section  deals  with  the  minister  "as  pastor";  Theodore  L.  Cuyler, 
How  to  Be  a  Pastor  (New  York:  Baker  &  Taylor,  1890),  a  fresh  and 
helpful  treatment  coming  out  of  a  long  and  successful  ministry. 

v.      LITURGICS 
I .      DEFINITION 

The  subject  of  liturgies  may  be  variously  considered.  A 
broad  study  may  be  made  of  the  origin,  history,  and  signifi- 
cance of  religious  ceremonial.     This  would  involve  the  study 


\  PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  615 

of  primitive  ritual  and  of  the  part  which  it  played  in  the  devel- 
opment of  social  control,  an  aspect  of  the  subject  of  liturgies 
which  belongs  to  the  history  of  religion.  Again,  the  various 
religious  rites  and  ceremonies  may  be  analyzed  with  reference 
to  the  ideas  which  they  embody  and  to  the  emotional  states 
which  they  are  calculated  to  express  or  to  produce.  The 
psychology  of  religion  would  treat  of  liturgies  in  this  aspect. 
Christian  liturgies  has  a  significant  historical  growth  with 
origins  in  Judaism  and  in  paganism  and  an  intimate  connec- 
tion with  the  development  of  doctrine.  In  this  phase  it 
belongs  in  the  field  of  church  history.  But  in  addition  to 
these  the  subject  is  of  high  importance  in  modern  religious 
expression,  including  a  consideration  of  the  type  of  liturgy 
to  be  employed,  the  technique  of  the  performance  of  ritual, 
and  a  study  of  the  values  to  be  secured  by  its  employment. 
It  is  this  aspect  of  the  subject  which  properly  belongs  to  prac- 
tical theology,  and  with  it  may  well  be  included  the  subject  of 
hymnology. 

2.      THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   LITURGICS 

The  full  treatment  of  this  subject,  as  noted  above,  belongs 
to  the  psychology  of  religion.  Certain  aspects  must  be  noted, 
however,  for  their  bearing  on  practical  problems. 

Psychological  principles  involved  in  the  employment 
of  liturgy. — Historically,  ritual  probably  had  two  purposes. 
In  the  first  place  it  was  directed  toward  the  god.  The  divine 
favor  was  to  be  secured  or  the  divine  displeasure  averted  by 
certain  established  ceremonials  which  it  was  necessary  to  per- 
form according  to  a  recognized  technique  in  order  that  they 
might  be  efficacious.  As  a  magic  the  proper  performance 
of  the  ritual  compelled  the  god  to  comply  with  the  wishes 
of  the  worshiper.  In  a  refined  form  this  has  come  down 
through  the  stages  of  religious  development  in  the  concep- 
tion that  fitting  worship  is  well-pleasing  to  God.  This  idea 
is  preserved  in  the  expression  "divine  service."     But  ritual 


6i6        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

had  always  another  purpose.  When  impressively  performed 
it  was  found  to  have  an  effect  upon  the  worshipers.  It  aroused 
emotions  that  were  felt  to  be  congruous  with  the  exercises 
of  worship.  The  ritual  was  therefore  elaborated  with  refer- 
ence to  the  production  of  this  effect.  This,  too,  came  down 
through  the  stages  of  religious  development,  issuing  in  Chris- 
tianity in  the  gorgeous  ceremonial  of  the  mass  and  in  the 
numerous  less  elaborate  liturgical  services.  An  interesting 
manifestation  of  the  same  tendency  in  our  own  time  is  the 
development  of  the  revival  music,  which  melts  the  hetero- 
geneous elements  of  a  crowd  into  a  unity. 

Manifestly,  in  modern  ethical  religion  there  can  be  no 
idea  of  influencing  God  by  means  of  ceremonial,  though  there 
may  well  be  the  behef  that  worship  is  pleasing  to  him  as  mani- 
festing a  right  attitude  on  the  part  of  his  people.  But  the 
dominant  purpose  of  worship  must  be  the  production  of  cer- 
tain moods  and  emotional  reactions  which  we  recognize  as 
religious,  such  as  the  contemplative,  the  restful,  the  hopeful, 
the  trusting,  the  aspirational,  the  ecstatic.  And  in  an  ethical 
religion  these  moods  and  emotions  are  not  ends  in  themselves 
but  are  designed  to  facilitate  desirable  conduct  and  desirable 
attitudes  toward  life  and  its  problems. 

Evidently,  then,  the  modern  test  of  a  ritual  must  be  prag- 
matic, just  as  we  have  found  it  to  be  the  case  with  an  ecclesi- 
astical polity.  In  the  nature  of  the  case,  other  things  being 
equal,  antiquity,  tradition,  and  the  rich  associations  of  the 
past  will  tend  to  enhance  the  emotional  effect  of  a  ceremonial. 
So  far  prescription  must  ever  remain  an  inherent  virtue  of  a 
liturgical  form.  But  if  the  rationalizing  process  has  emascu- 
lated of  its  value  the  idea  which  the  symbol  conveyed,  its 
antiquity  may  go  for  nothing.  It  may  lose  all  its  power  to 
stir  emotion,  or  it  may  even  become  obnoxious.  Thus  the 
mass,  so  profoundly  significant  to  the  Roman  CathoHc,  has 
wholly  lost  any  power  to  stimulate  religious  emotion  in  the 
ordinary  Protestant.     Or  changing  taste  may  so  alter  the 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  617 

attitude  of  the  worshiper  that  rites  which  formerly  seemed 
deeply  significant  may  appear  to  be  trivial;  liturgical  exer- 
cises that  were  once  productive  of  reverence  may  become 
tiresome.  To  some  persons  the  solemn  chant  is  dull  and 
tedious;  to  others  the  lively  gospel  song  is  irreverent  and 
painful. 

The  modem  problem  of  worship. — A  most  important 
problem  which  has  received  very  little  consideration  is  the 
effect  of  the  church  service  upon  the  occupants  of  the  pews. 
We  can  no  longer  think  of  the  service  as  something  demanded 
by  God  to  which  the  worshiper  is  therefore  compelled  to  sub- 
mit. We  must  think  of  it  as  an  exercise  designed  entirely  to 
help  the  worshiper  in  securing  the  right  religious  attitude 
toward  God,  life,  and  duty.  We  must  consider,  then,  the 
presuppositions  with  which  our  worshiper  enters  the  church. 
The  psychology  of  apperception  is  important  here.  We  must 
estimate  his  attitude  toward  each  element  of  the  worship. 
We  must  consider  what  may  check  the  rising  tide  of  emotion 
and  what  may  carry  it  on  to  the  full.  We  must  analyze  our 
ceremonial  as  to  its  impressive  or  expressive  character  with  a 
view  to  a  certain  balance  between  these  elements.  We  must 
see  whether  the  various  emotions  of  reverence,  contrition, 
aspiration,  joy  are  called  forth  in  natural  order.  The  psy- 
chology of  attention  and  of  interest  will  be  of  the  greatest 
significance  in  studying  our  problem. 

The  technique  of  the  administration  of  worship  is  of  great 
importance.  Given  the  proper  elements  and  the  most  effec- 
tive rites,  are  the  ministrants  qualified  to  carry  them  through  ? 
Here  personality  counts  for  d  great  deal.  But  there  is  a 
certain  freedom,  attitude,  inner  appreciation,  sense  of  har- 
mony, even  quality  of  voice,  accuracy  of  enunciation,  power 
of  interpretation,  which  are  vital  to  success.  As  regards  the 
ministry  of  song,  apart  from  the  selection  of  fitting  music 
there  is  again  the  question  of  personality  in  the  singer,  and 
there  is  a  fitness  of  the  rendition  of  the  music  to  the  circum- 


6i8        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

stances  of  worship.  Thus  anything  in  the  nature  of  display 
is  immediately  destructive  of  the  mood  of  worship,  so  that  the 
music  most  admirable  from  the  standpoint  of  artistic  tech- 
nique may  be  utterly  objectionable  for  the  purpose  of  educing 
religious  feeling  in  the  congregation. 

3.      PREVAILING   LITURGICAL   FORMS 

Liturgies  prescribed  by  rubric. — In  many  churches  the 
matter  of  liturgy  is  altogether  prescribed  and  the  business  of 
the  minister  is  to  become  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
rites,  ceremonies,  forms,  vestments,  and  ministrations.  He 
will  naturally  seek  to  know  the  history  of  the  ritual  of  which 
he  is  the  ministrant,  and  will  wish  to  understand  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  various  symbols  and  forms  which  the  best 
modern  thinking  of  his  own  church  affords.  In  all  bodies 
which  have  traditional  liturgies  there  are  those  who  dogmati- 
cally insist  upon  the  retention  of  the  historical  meaning 
of  the  various  elements.  But  in  all  these  bodies  there  are 
also  thoughtful  men  who  appreciate  the  new  world  in  which 
we  are  living,  and  who,  while  reverently  and  affectionately 
maintaining  the  old  forms,  find  larger  meaning  in  them  in 
accordance  with  modern  needs.  It  is  idle  to  modernize  one's 
theology  if  one  does  not  also  modernize  the  interpretation 
of  his  liturgy. 

The  ministrant  of  the  prescribed  liturgy  will  also  be  con- 
cerned to  study  the  effect  of  the  various  elements  upon  his 
congregation.  General  psychological  principles  will  be  help- 
ful, but  on  the  basis  of  these  he  ought  to  make  as  careful  a 
practical  study  as  he  may  of  the  actual  results  secured  in  the 
experience  of  the  worshipers.  He  should  attempt  to  analyze 
his  own  reactions  to  the  service  and  those  of  the  various 
types  of  persons  who  are  in  attendance.  Again,  the  tech- 
nique of  ministration  will  be  most  important  here.  And  even 
where  the  prescriptions  of  the  church  are  very  definite  there 
is  often  large  opportunity  for  individuality  of  expression. 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  619 

Liturgies  conventionally  employed. — It  is  usual  to  differ- 
entiate between  the  liturgical  and  the  non-liturgical  churches. 
There  is  a  convenience  in  the  distinction,  but  it  must  be 
recognized  that  it  is  only  one  of  degree.  All  churches  employ 
ritual.  What  is  known  as  the  "Order  of  Worship"  in  the 
most  unconventional  ecclesiastical  bodies  is  yet  quite  definitely 
conventional,  while  the  forms  employed  in  the  administration 
of  the  ordinances  and  in  the  marriage  and  funeral  services 
are  definitely  set  by  custom.  Even  such  simple  services  as  the 
prayer-meeting  and  the  young  people's  meeting  have  an 
almost  unvarying  order,  which  practically  amounts  to  ritual. 
It  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  the  recitation  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  the  responsive  reading  of  the  Psalter,  the  singing  of  the 
Doxology,  and  indeed  of  all  congregational  hymns,  the  bowing 
in  prayer,  the  collection  of  the  offerings  of  the  people,  the 
reading  of  the  Scripture,  the  sermon  itself,  and  the  bene- 
diction are  as  definitely  liturgical  forms  as  the  prayers  which 
are  printed  in  prayer-books.  It  is  not  then  a  question 
whether  a  church  should  employ  a  liturgy,  but  rather  what 
liturgical  forms  may  be  most  satisfactorily  used  for  a 
particular  congregation.  Pattison  in  Public  Worship  has 
discussed  the  various  elements  most  helpfully  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  congregational  churches. 

The  most  serious  criticism  to  be  offered  of  the  conven- 
tional church  service  is  that  it  is  so  little  congregational.  The 
significant  emphasis  which  the  reformed  churches  put  upon  the 
sermon  has  thrown  that  element  into  such  prominence  that 
the  minister  is  thought  of,  and  often  called,  the  "preacher," 
and  the  congregation  is  thought  of,  and  often  called,  the 
"audience,"  while  the  general  name  for  the  room  in  which 
public  worship  is  held  is  the  "auditorium."  An  able  preacher 
recently  wrote  an  article  with  the  title  "As  to  Preliminaries." 
He  meant  everything  that  happened  before  he  began  to  preach. 
The  congregation  is  still  allowed  to  sing  two  or  three  hymns, 
"omitting  the  third  verse,"  but  the  minister  prays,  offers  the 


620        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

confession,  and  reads  the  Scripture,  besides  preaching  the 
sermon,  and  the  choir  takes  the  larger  part  of  the  music 
to  itself.  There  is  needed  an  emphasis  on  congregational 
worship. 

Eclectic  liturgies. — This  need  has  given  rise  to  various 
endeavors  to  ''enrich  the  service."  Some  have  stigmatized 
this  effort  as  an  addition  of  liturgical  frills.  Others  have  said 
that  the  minister  and  the  choir  were  the  only  persons  inter- 
ested in  the  enrichment. 

Of  course  a  generation  that  has  been  trained  to  think  of 
a  church  service  as  consisting  of  a  sermon  with  some  opening 
exercises  will  not  easily  appreciate  the  elements  of  worship. 
The  problem  before  the  modern  minister  is  to  use  such 
liturgical  forms  as  shall  actually  promote  in  his  people  the 
mood  of  worship.  He  must  study  his  own  congregation.  He 
must  experiment.  He  must  particularly  study  the  technique 
of  ministration.  He  has  the  right  to  feel  that  all  the  litur- 
gical riches  of  the  ages  are  open  to  his  use.  They  belong 
to  no  section  of  Christianity  but  to  the  church  universal. 
To  employ  the  General  Confession  in  a  church  of  Puritan 
ancestry  is  not  to  add  a  liturgical  frill,  nor  is  it  to  negate  the 
protest  of  the  Puritans.  It  is  simply  to  realize  that  some 
things  which  some  found  hurtful  to  true  worship  at  a  certain 
stage  of  the  progress  of  the  church  have  regained  their  use- 
fulness in  this  day  when  ecclesiastical  conflict  is  abated. 

The  minister  should  be  very  familiar  with  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  and  with  the  Book  of  Common  Worship  of 
the  Presbyterian  church.  The  Psalter  lends  itself  peculiarly 
to  the  valuable  congregational  practice  of  antiphonal  chanting 
or  reading;  but  for  this  purpose  it  must  be  properly  edited. 
We  are  under  no  obligation  to  use  psalms  in  their  entirety 
when  portions  of  them  will  better  suit  our  liturgical  needs. 
Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  edit  a  church-book  of 
responsive  readings,  but  a  thoroughly  satisfactory  arrange- 
ment still  remains  to  be  made. 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  621 

One  difficulty  which  confronts  the  modern  minister  is  the 
fact  that  the  worship  of  the  church  has  been  developed  upon 
the  basis  of  the  individualistic  religion  of  the  salvation  of  the 
soul, "almost  the  only  social  element  in  it  referring  to  the  evan- 
gelization of  mankind.  How  shall  he  pray  for  the  great  social 
needs  so  apparent  in  our  day  ?  Evidently  we  need  a  new 
devotional  literature  inspired  by  the  social  passion.  Rausch- 
enbusch  has  made  a  most  beautiful  endeavor  in  this  field  in 
his  For  God  and  the  People:  Prayers  of  the  Social  Awakening. 

4.      HYMNOLOGY 

The  history  of  the  hymns. — Music,  chant,  song,  have 
always  been  an  important  element  of  worship.  Musical 
rhythm  is  one  of  the  most  potent  means  of  exciting  emotion. 
Elemental  feelings  are  stirred  by  accented  music  of  the  drum- 
beat quality,  and  the  dirge  with  its  moanlike  character  has 
ever  produced  sadness  and  depression.  The  developed 
musical  sense  responds  emotionally  and  in  characteristic 
fashion  to  the  various  types  of  music.  The  wedding  of  words 
and  music  when  each  is  interpretative  of  the  other  naturally 
heightens  the  emotional  quality  of  the  exercise. 

Christianity  inherited  the  Psalms  from  the  Jewish  church 
and  doubtless  took  over  the  simple  chants  in  which  they  were 
rendered.  But  while  appreciating  these  noble  expressions  of 
religion,  the  new  faith  desired  more  definite  ascriptions  of 
praise  and  expression  of  faith,  aspiration,  hope,  joy.  It  is 
thought  that  there  are  fragments  of  Christian  song  in  the 
New  Testament.  Very  early  appeared  the  "Gloria  in  Excel- 
sis,"  the  "Gloria  Patri,"  the"Ter  Sanctus,"  the"Benedicite," 
the  "Te  Deum,"  together  with  the  Nativity  songs  in  the 
Gospel  of  Luke.  Then  followed *the  noble  hymns  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  churches,  of  which  the  latter  are  especially  fine; 
then  the  wonderful  and  extensive  German  hymnody;  then 
the  French,  English,  and  Scottish  psalmody;  then  from  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  great  development  of 


62  2        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

English  hymnody.  Duffield  has  two  scholarly  works,  Latin 
Hymns  and  English  Hymns.  The  monumental  Dictionary 
of  Hymnology  by  Julian  is  the  best  treatment  of  the  whole 
subject,  while  Breed,  The  History  and  Use  of  Hymns  and  Hymn 
Tunes,  is  an  accurate  and  interesting  popular  treatment 
(see  bibliography  at  close  of  this  section) . 

The  survival  of  the  fittest. — It  would  be  rash  to  endeavor 
to  estimate  the  number  of  Christian  hymns  that  have  been 
written.  Charles  Wesley  wrote  over  six  thousand,  Fanny 
Crosby  over  three  thousand.  Probably  not  far  4ess  than  a 
quarter  of  a  million  hymns  have  actually  been  written  and 
sung  in  Europe  and  America.  But  Benson  has  written  an 
excellent  and  appreciative  little  book  on  the  thirty-two  best 
h3rmns!  A  vast  number  were  forgotten  in  their  own  genera- 
tion. The  same  process  that  preserves  the  best  painting, 
sculpture,  poetry,  drama,  has  saved  the  best  hymns  from 
dying  with  the  mass  that  were  not  worth  saving.  If  com- 
mercial considerations,  denominational  pride,  and  fortuitous 
interest  could  be  eliminated  from  the  consideration  of  the 
subject,  the  conclusion  would  be  that  it  is  doubtful  whether 
there  are  more  than  four  hundred  hymns  in  English  that  are 
worthy  to  be  kept  for  the  use  of  the  Christian  church.  Most 
hymnbooks  are  far  too  large.  Breed,  Benson,  Pratt,  and 
Dickinson  have  suggestive  discussions  on  this  point  (see 
bibliography  at  close  of  this  section). 

Modem  hymns. — The  lyric  is  naturally  very  personal. 
The  finest  Christian  hymns  breathe  the  aspiration  of  the  indi- 
vidual soul  for  communion  with  God,  for  cleansing,  for  sal- 
vation, for  the  blessedness  of  the  life  beyond.  To  be  sure, 
the  singer  realizes  his  representative  capacity — he  is  also 
singing  for  his  brethren.  But  the  values  expressed  are  pre- 
dominantly pietistic.  Where  shall  we  find  hymns  to  express 
our  social  passion  and  hope  ?  It  is  manifestly  not  easy  to 
put  sociology  into  lyric  form;  and  of  course  that  would  be  the 
last  thing  to  be  desired.     Hymnody  always  fails  when  it 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  623 

becomes  hortatory  and  propagandist.  But  what  the  great 
missionary  hymns  have  done  for  the  passion  of  evangelism, 
hymns  of  the  social  awakening  ought  to  do  for  the  passion 
of  social  justice  and  love.  A  new  collection  entitled  Hymns 
of  the  Kingdom  has  sought  to  bring  together  the  best  that  are 
available  of  these  lyrics.  It  is  clear  that  the  singer  who  will 
voice  our  new  hopes  and  prayers  will  have  a  mission. 

The  gospel  songs. — The  very  effective  religious  work  of 
Moody,  with  that  of  Bliss  and  Sankey,  produced  the  gospel 
songs.  They  have  a  certain  likeness  to  the  popular  songs 
of  the  stage  and  of  the  street,  which  are  so  extraordinarily 
interesting  and  so  transitory.  They  caught  the  ear  of  the 
people.  The  music  was  easy,  requiring  no  effort.  There  was 
generally  some  simple  and  obvious  imagery  which  appealed 
to  some  common  sentiment.  The  connection  of  the  gospel 
songs  with  the  significant  evangelistic  work  of  Moody,  from 
which  so  many  thousands  of  persons  drew  their  deepened 
religious  interest,  naturally  gave  to  them  a  peculiar  sanctity. 
But  they  wore  out.  It  was  necessary  to  find  new  ones  to  take 
their  places.  The  evangelists  who  followed  in  the  wake  of 
Moody  had  each  his  own  singer  who  wrote  and  published 
gospel  songs.  The  business  became  exceedingly  lucrative. 
The  commercial  motive,  which  hitherto  had  had  little  to  do 
with  hymnody,  became  very  prominent.  Today  we  are 
flooded  with  songbooks  filled  with  cheap,  sentimental,  often 
irreverent,  and  generally  undesirable,  hymns,  whether  con- 
sidered from  the  devotional,  the  poetic,  or  the  musical  point 
of  view.  They  are  sung  in  evening  services,  in  Sunday  schools, 
in  young  people's  meetings,  in  church  prayer-meetings — • 
the  great  and  noble  hymns  being  confined  to  the  Sunday  morn- 
ing service.  The  result  is  that  the  hymns  which  ought  to  be 
the  permanent  religious  possession  of  the  people  are  not  learned 
and  are  not  known. 

Perhaps  the  gospel  songs  have  their  place.  Breed  gives 
a  very  fair  general  estimate  of  their  value.     Probably  the 


624        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

church  would  be  the  gainer  today  if  a  score  of  the  better 
gospel  songs  were  to  be  retained  and  all  the  rest  forgotten. 

Present  tendencies  and  needs. — The  last  decade  has  seen 
a  decided  improvement  in  church  hymnals.  Most  of  them 
are  still  too  large.  The  hymnbook  is  not  the  place  for  the 
documents  of  the  history  of  hymnology.  We  should  gain  by 
the  elimination  of  every  hymn  that  is  not  a  distinctly  noble 
religious  lyric.  Some  of  the  best  evangelistic  hymns,  carefully 
selected,  are  now  printed  in  the  best  hymnals,  and  that  is  well. 
There  is  still  room  for  a  larger  number  of  hymns  of  the  social 
awakening.  Above  all,  we  need  to  begin  singing  the  best 
hymns  in  childhood  and  youth,  and  we  need  to  use  our  great 
choruses  in  conventions  and  evangelistic  meetings  for  leading 
the  people  into  the  singing  of  noble  words,  set  to  worthy 
music,  that  shall  exalt  religion  in  their  lives  and  open  the 
springs  of  the  deeper  religious  emotions. 

Literature. — For  psychological  works  see  under  "Psychology  of 
Religion."  The  following  are  of  value:  *Charles  Cuthbert  Hall  and 
others,  Christian  Worship  (New  York:  Scribner,  1897),  ten  lectures,  in 
which  the  liturgies  and  forms  of  the  various  churches  are  discussed  by 
representative  men — an  excellent  conspectus;  *Pattison,  Public  Worship 
(Philadelphia:  American  Baptist  Pub.  Soc,  1900),  a  practical  discussion 
of  forms  suitable  for  bodies  of  the  congregational  order;  Hoyt,  Public 
Worship  for  Non-Liturgical  Churches  (New  York:  George  H.  Doran  & 
Co.,  191 1),  similar  to  Pattison;  N.  J.  Burton,  In  Pulpit  and  Parish, 
Yale  Lectures,  which  cover  the  whole  field  of  pastoral  duty,  having  much 
that  is  valuable  on  the  subject  of  worship;  Alexander  Maclaren,  Pulpit 
Prayers  (New  York:  Hodder  &  Stoughton),  prayers  stenographi- 
cally  reported  without  the  knowledge  of  the  minister,  revealing  the 
possibilities  of  free  prayer;  Oswald  Dykes,  The  Christian  Minister  and 
His  Duties  (Edinburgh:  Clark,  1908),  which  treats  of  the  minister  as 
leader  in  worship;  Washington  Gladden,  The  Christian  Pastor  and  the 
Working  Church,  chap,  vi,  "Pulpit  and  Altar"  (New  York:  Scribner, 
1898,  1906),  *Breed,  The  History  and  Use  of  Hymns  and  Hymn  Tunes 
(New  York:  Revell,  1903),  a  popular  and  very  satisfactory  historical 
and  critical  discussion  of  the  Christian  hymn — a  practical  handbook 
for  the  leader  of  public  worship;  Benson,  The  Best  Church  Hymns 
(Philadelphia:    Westminster  Press,    1899),   a  brief   discussion  of   the 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  625 

thirty-two  best  English  hymns;  Duffield,  English  Hymns  (New  York: 
Funk  &  Wagnalls,  1894),  a  critical  treatment  in  alphabetical  order  of  all 
the  better-known  hymns;  Julian,  Dictionary  of  Hymnology,  2d  ed. 
(London:  Murray,  1908),  valuable  for  its  information  upon  a  vast 
number  of  hymns;  Pratt,  Musical  Ministries  in  the  Church  (New  York: 
Revell,  1901),  a  little  book  dealing  with  the  problem  most  helpfully 
as  it  concerns  the  minister;  *Dickinson,  Music  in  the  History  of  the 
Western  Church  (New  York:  Scribner,  1902),  an  excellent  historical 
study  of  the  development  of  music  in  connection  with  worship,  culminat- 
ing in  a  discussion  of  the  problems  of  church  music  in  America;  Benson, 
The  English  Hymn,  Its  Development  and  Use  in  Worship  (New  York: 
Doran,  191 5),  a  masterly  study  and  the  best  treatise  on  the  subject. 

VI.      MISSIONS 
I.      DEFINITION   AND    SCOPE 

It  would  be  difficult  to  draw  a  line  of  distinction  clearly 
between  organized  efforts  for  social  betterment  and  that 
specialized  activity  comprehended  under  the  term  "missions." 
So  far  as  the  former  are  directly  undertaken  by  the  church  they 
are  likely  to  be  intimately  connected  with  activities  that  are 
more  definitely  recognized  as  missionary.  Wherever  the 
church  is  the  chief  socializing  agency  of  the  community,  it 
will  be  under  obligation  to  engage  in  many  forms  of  social  en- 
deavor which  in  more  developed  communities  are  undertaken 
by  other  voluntary  organizations  or  by  the  state.  In  foreign 
lands,  for  example,  the  missionary  enterprise  embraces  all 
forms  of  philanthropy  and  education,  including  even  industrial 
training,  hospital,  dispensary,  and  medical  care,  even  some- 
times the  organization  of  industry.  The  missionary  is  con- 
cerned, not  merely  with  a  religious  propaganda,  but  with  an 
extension  of  all  the  social  and  spiritual  values  which  in  its 
best  expression  Christianity  represents.  If  Christianity  may 
be  understood  in  that  broad  sense,  we  may  define  this  branch 
of  practical  theology  as  a  study  of  the  conduct  of  the  propaga- 
tion of  Christianity  through  external  initiative  in  communities 
and  countries  where  Christianity  does  not  exist  or  where  the 


626        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

local  Christian  forces  are  insufficient  for  self -sustenance  and 
development. 

2.      FIELDS    OF   MISSIONARY   ACTIVITY 

The  church  as  an  institution  of  modern  Hfe  has  a  definite 
economic  basis.  Of  course  it  is  a  religious  community  and  not 
a  building,  but  inevitably  it  must  have  a  building,  and  this 
involves  care  and  upkeep.  To  be  effective  the  church  must 
have  a  professional  ministry,  which  must  be  financially  sup- 
ported. The  community  to  which  the  church  immediately 
ministers  would  naturally  provide  the  necessary  funds  for 
these  expenses.  Where  for  any  reason  this  is  impossible  a 
missionary  field  exists. 

Densely  settled  communities. — In  modern  cities  the 
poor  live  closely  packed  together  in  certain  sections,  apart 
from  the  well-to-do.  Whenever  a  family  rises  above  the 
poverty  line  the  first  idea  is  to  flee  from  the  crowded,  dirty, 
unhealthful,  uninteresting  abodes  of  the  poor  and  to  seek 
residence  in  a  better  neighborhood.  It  is  not  expected  that 
these  densely  populated  districts  will  support  their  own 
schools,  hospitals,  fire-stations;  these  are  provided  from  the 
common  funds  in  accordance  with  the  needs,  not  in  propor- 
tion to  the  taxes.  The  same  principle  adapted  to  the  volun- 
tary organization  of  the  churches  is  involved  in  the  mission 
church. 

The  utter  inability  of  the  poor  to  maintain  even  an  in- 
expensive religious  organization  and  the  want  of  initiative  in  a 
shifting  population  alike  demand  that  the  church  in  a  densely 
settled  district  shall  be  maintained  from  without.  This  may 
be  done  by  means  of  endowment,  as  in  the  case  of  Trinity 
Parish  in  New  York,  or  by  the  direct  appropriations  of  a 
denomination,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Labor  Temple,  supported 
in  New  York  by  the  Presbyterians.  The  activities  of  such  a 
church  may  be  those  already  discussed  in  the  consideration 
of  the  so-called  ''institutional"  church. 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  627 

Foreign  populations  in  America. — The  rapid  immigration 
of  peoples  from  all  over  the  world  into  urban  and  rural  dis- 
tricts in  America  has  brought  about  a  special  religious  need. 
In  many  cases  these  people  come  from  countries  where  the 
state-supported  churches  have  given  them  little  training  in 
voluntary  religious  organization.  They  are  thus  ill-adapted 
to  form  self-supporting  religious  congregations.  In  some 
places  the  state  churches  were  part  of  the  Old  World  authority, 
which  the  freedom-loving  immigrant  was  glad  to  throw  off  in 
the  New  World.  There  exists  then  an  actual  antagonism  to 
religion.  Again,  state  religion,  which  may  be  very  efficacious 
in  holding  children  in  the  religious  life  and  which  normally 
may  keep  them  attached  to  the  church  in  their  maturer  years, 
has  seldom  manifested  great  power  in  winning  those  who  have 
fallen  away  from  religion.  There  are  needed  the  fervor  of  the 
evangelistic  appeal  and  the  social  attractions  of  a  church 
adapted  to  the  community  situation.  In  the  case  of  the 
Roman  and  Greek  Catholic  populations  there  is  the  added 
obligation  to  missionary  effort,  in  that  the  Protestant  feels 
called  upon  to  win  these  people  from  their  superstitions  to  an 
evangelical  faith  which  is  related  to  the  modern  world. 

Naturally  there  is  no  possibility  of  self-initiating  nor  of 
self-supporting  religious  effort  in  such  conditions  as  these. 
The  American  church  must  provide  a  church  home  for  the 
foreigner  until  he  has  reached  the  point  where  he  is  able 
and  willing  to  carry  it  on  for  himself.  Where  the  immigrant 
lives  in  the  cities  the  problem  of  missionary  activity  in  his 
behalf  is  often  complicated  with  that  already  discussed,  as 
many  foreigners  are  crowded  in  the  poorer  quarters. 

Sparsely  settled  communities. — The  United  States  taken 
as  a  whole  is  still  one  of  the  most  thinly  populated  regions  of 
the  civilized  world.  Small  towns  many  miles  apart,  with  farm 
houses  at  considerable  distances  from  one  another,  are  to  be 
found  all  over  the  country.  Moreover,  there  is  a  constant 
effort  to  get  away  to  more  remote  places.     The  history  of  the 


628        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

United  States  has  been  a  history  of  the  pioneer  pressing  into 
new  regions.  Cheap  land  has  ever  been  the  lure  that  has  called 
him  from  the  more  settled  parts  of  the  country.  While  there 
is  a  sense  in  which  there  is  no  longer  a  frontier,  yet  in  a  very 
true  sense  there  are  many  frontiers.  Every  city  has  its  far- 
flung  line  of  newly  opened  suburbs.  All  the  western  states 
have  large  sections  of  newly  opened  land. 

What  of  the  pioneer's  religion  ?  One  of  the  glorious  chap- 
ters of  American  history  is  the  story  of  how  the  pioneer  took 
his  religion  with  him.  Without  waiting  for  any  missionary 
organization  he  often  opened  a  Sunday  school  and  set  up  his 
altar  in  the  log  house  as  one  of  the  first  social  institutions 
of  the  new  community.  But  this  was  not  always  the  case, 
nor  when  it  was  the  case  was  it  adequate.  The  building  of  a 
church  and  the  support  of  the  minister  are  tasks  too  heavy  for 
the  new  community,  struggling  to  get  on  its  feet.  A  most 
natural  field  of  fraternal  effort  has  always  been  found  in  the 
frontier  towns,  in  the  country  villages,  in  the  new  suburbs, 
in  the  mining  camps  and  logging  camps,  and  wherever  the 
people  were  too  few  or  too  feeble  to  initiate  and  support 
their  own  religious  organization. 

The  Indians  and  the  negroes. — ^The  segregated  condition 
of  the  Indians  on  the  reservations  has  been  an  appeal  to  Chris- 
tian churches  to  make  these  "wards  of  the  nation"  also  wards 
of  the  church.  Christian  schools  and  churches  have  been 
estabhshed  by  the  various  denominations,  therefore,  among 
most  of  the  tribes.  As  the  Indian  comes  into  our  American 
life  it  will  still  be  the  desire  of  the  Christian  churches  to  help 
him  to  share  in  our  highest  religious  values. 

The  emancipation  of  the  slaves  suddenly  opened  to  the 
churches  of  the  North  an  opportunity  which  they  felt  called 
upon  to  meet.  Education  had  not  been  permitted  to  the 
negroes,  and  they  had  for  the  most  part  conducted  their  own 
religious  services  with  a  strange  combination  of  Christian 
conceptions  and  African  practices.     The  medicine-man  had 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  629 

become  the  pastor.  It  was  felt  that  these  liberated  children 
must  be  given  the  Christian  education  and  guidance  which 
would  enable  them  to  become  self-directing.  Unhappily  the 
bitterness  growing  out  of  the  sectional  strife  prevented  the 
proper  co-operation  between  the  northern  and  southern  whites 
which  alone  would  have  made  such  a  missionary  work  thor- 
oughly effective.  There  is  still  need  for  many  readjustments 
in  this  direction,  but  the  fact  remains  that  the  ten  millions 
of  negroes  in  the  North  and  South  greatly  need  the  sympa- 
thetic help  of  the  white  churches,  and  they  constitute  a  proper 
field  for  missionary  activity. 

Latin,  Greek,  and  oriental  Christian  populations. — There 
are  those  who  consider  the  non-Protestant  forms  of  Chris- 
tianity better  adapted  to  the  peoples  among  which  they 
exist  than  our  more  rationalized  Protestantism.  Probably 
the  majoriiy  of  Protestants  who  are  interested  in  missions 
at  all  are  profoundly  convinced  that  the  religions  of  Latin 
America  and  of  the  Christian  populations  of  the  Turkish  and 
Russian  empires  are  utterly  unsatisfactory  from  the  ethical, 
social,  and  spiritual  points  of  view.  A  great  system  of 
Christian  schools  has  been  established  in  the  Turkish  empire, 
and  an  enlarging  educational  and  evangelistic  endeavor  is 
being  prosecuted  in  Cuba,  Mexico,  South  America,  and  in 
Italy  itself.  These  missionary  efforts  do  not  always  aim  at 
proselytism,  but  very  often,  as  particularly  among  the 
oriental  Christians,  the  endeavor  is  to  vitalize  the  old  faith 
and  to  bring  the  people  to  an  appreciation  of  the  nobler  Chris- 
tian values,  even  though  they  still  remain  within  their  ancient 
communions. 

Non-Christian  countries. — Christianity  began  as  a  great 
proclamation  of  hope  to  a  pagan  world.  The  enthusiasm  of 
propagandism  continued  until  all  Europe  was  nominally 
Christianized.  When  the  New  World  was  discovered,  and 
when  the  Far  East  came  into  the  ken  of  the  church,  the  old 
enthusiasm  was  revived  in  the  Jesuit  movement,  and  later  in 


630        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

that  of  the  Moravians.  The  modern  missionary  enterprise 
belongs  especially  to  the  nineteenth  century.  The  church 
awoke  to  a  sense  of  responsibility  for  the  souls  of  men  which 
were  believed  to  be  lost.  The  idea  of  securing  salvation  for 
the  heathen  world  captured  the  imagination  of  the  church 
and  called  forth  heroic  missionaries.  The  actual  work  of  the 
missionaries  revealed  deeper  needs.  It  was  found  that  a 
fundamental  educa tional  enterprise  must  be  undertaken .  The 
pitiable  lack  of  the  simplest  medical  care  opened  the  way  for  a 
great  ministry  of  healing.  Thus  schools  and  hospitals  were 
established  in  lands  where  nothing  of  the  kind  had  ever 
existed.  A  new  missionary  motive  developed,  that  of  shar- 
ing with  less  fortunate  peoples  the  blessings  of  the  Christian 
civilization  as  well  as  the  Christian  faith  and  hope. 

In  the  last  generation  a  further  movement  has  taken  place. 
The  world,  commercially,  has  become  practically  one.  The 
missionary  is  not  the  sole  representative  of  the  civilized  peoples. 
There  is  also  the  trader,  the  mechanic,  the  engineer,  often  the 
man  of  science,  and,  unhappily,  always  the  soldier  sent  with 
aggressive  intent.  The  Christian  church  no  longer  looks 
upon  a  heathen  world  perishing  in  ignorance  of  the  gospel, 
but  upon  a  non-Christian  world  exposed  to  all  the  influences 
of  our  commerce  and  diplomacy,  with  accompaniments  of  vice, 
chicanery,  fraud,  tyranny.  It  is  not  a  question  as  to  whether 
the  non-Christian  world  shall  have  any  contact  with  the 
Christian  world,  but  whether  it  shall  have  contact  with  its 
best  as  well  as  with  its  bad,  its  indifferent,  and  its  worst.  The 
great  modern  missionary  enthusiasm  is  to  help  the  peoples 
of  the  earth  to  come  to  their  best  with  the  sympathetic  help 
of  the  churches  of  Christian  lands. 

3.      FORMS   OF   MISSIONARY   ORGANIZATION 

The  various  denominations  have  different  means  of  carry- 
ing on  these  wide  activities.  Those  that  are  more  centrally 
organized  carry  them  on  by  means  of  boards  which  are  respon- 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  631 

sible  to  the  central  authority,  but  which  exercise  large 
independence  an  account  of  the  diversity  of  the  work 
to  be  done.  The  less  centrally  organized  bodies  have 
special  societies  for  the  different  phases  of  missionary 
activity. 

City  mission  societies  or  boards. — The  missionary  prob- 
lems of  the  large  city  are  so  definite  that  there  is  almost  always 
a  local  organization  charged  with  the  responsibility  of  studying 
those  problems  and  of  providing  a  means  of  carrying  out  an 
adequate  missionary  policy  within  the  metropolitan  area. 
There  is  generally  an  executive  ofhcer,  the  superintendent  of 
city  missions,  who  promotes  the  collection  of  money  from  the 
churches  and  the  operation  of  the  missions  in  his  territory. 
Sometimes  churches  are  entirely  supported  in  needy  districts. 
Sometimes  grants  are  made  to  assist  a  semi-independent 
church.  Sometimes  new  enterprises,  churches,  or  Sunday 
schools  are  initiated  by  the  city-mission  organization.  The 
theory  of  the  organization  is  that  there  shall  be  no  community 
without  a  church  and  no  church  without  adequate  means 
to  carry  on  its  work  effectively. 

State  mission  societies,  conventions,  or  boards. — The 
next  territorial  division  above  the  cit}^  depends  upon  the  form 
of  church  organization.  It  may  be  the  diocese,  the  synod, 
the  conference,  the  convention,  and  any  of  these  may  or  may 
not  be  coterminous  with  the  state.  However,  there  is  usually  a 
society  or  board  which  is  responsible  for  missionary  activity 
within  some  such  large  territory.  The  great  cities  within  its 
area  will  generally  be  exempt  from  its  operation,  having  their 
own  metropolitan  organization.  But  the  extension  and  sus- 
tenance of  the  church  in  the  smaller  cities  and  towns,  in  the 
country  places,  and  in  the  new  communities  will  be  its  con- 
cern. The  money  will  be  raised  within  the  territory — -state, 
diocese,  or  whatever  its  name.  There  will  be  an  executive 
oflticer  whose  duty  will  be  the  superintendence  of  these 
activities.     The  theory  here  again  is  that  there  shall  not  be 


632         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

any  community  without  a  church,  nor  any  church  without 
the  means  to  carry  on  its  work  efficiently. 

National  or  home  mission  societies  or  boards. — Certain 
denominations  are  unified  throughout  the  entire  country. 
Several  have  still  the  two  main  divisions  that  were  brought 
about  by  the  slavery  controversy.  The  Episcopal  and 
Congregational  churches,  tlie  Disciples,  and  many  smaller 
denominations  are  national;  their  home  missionary  work  is 
therefore  coterminous  with  the  United  States.  The  Metho- 
dists have  a  northern  and  southern  denomination,  the  former 
regarding  its  jurisdiction  as  practically  national,  although  to 
a  great  extent  limiting  its  southern  activities  to  negro  work, 
the  latter  belonging  definitely  to  the  southern  states,  and  con- 
cerned with  church  extension  and  sustenance  in  that  section. 
The  Presbyterians  have  a  somewhat  similar  condition.  The 
Baptists  are  one  denomination,  but  have  a  northern  and  a 
southern  convention,  whose  territories  slightly  overlap.  The 
northern  convention  does  not  undertake  missionary  work  in 
the  South  except  among  the  negroes. 

While  these  various  differences  exist,  there  is  always  a 
denominational  society  or  board  concerned  with  the  entire 
missionary  activity  of  the  denomination  in  the  home  land. 
There  are  usually  several  executive  secretaries,  and  the 
denominational  territory  is  generally  divided  into  large 
divisions  for  the  purposes  of  the  collection  of  money,  the  mis- 
sionary education  and  stimulus  of  the  churches,  and  the  super- 
vision of  the  missionary  activities. 

Foreign-mission  societies  or  boards. — Almost  every  de- 
nomination is  actively  engaged  in  the  foreign-mission  enter- 
prise. Several  denominations  exist  as  such  only  by  reason  of 
their  missionary  interests,  these  great  activities  having  created 
the  denominational  consciousness .  Even  among  the  centrally 
governed  bodies  the  missionary  undertakings  are  the  supreme 
object  of  the  denominational  organization.  The  active  direc- 
tion of  missions  may  be  intrusted  to  the  highest  officials  of  the 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  633 

church,  there  may  be  a  special  board  appointed  or  elected  for 
the  purpose,  or  there  may  be  foreign-mission  societies  which 
have  been  developed,  in  and  through  which  the  denomination 
expresses  itself. 

Whatever  the  form  of  organization,  it  has  generally  at  least 
two  phases.  One  is  concerned  with  the  missionary  education 
and  stimulus  of  the  churches  in  America,  the  raising  of  the 
great  income  necessary  for  the  enterprise,  the  selection  of  the 
young  men  and  women  who  are  to  be  missionaries,  and  to  some 
extent  the  supervision  of  their  training.  The  other  is  con- 
cerned with  the  actual  operation  of  the  missions  in  foreign 
lands.  This  involves  a  study  of  the  conditions  in  the  various 
countries,  the  appointment  of  the  men  and  women  to  the 
various  stations,  the  decisions  as  to  the  kind  of  work  to  be 
done,  the  amount  of  equipment  to  be  provided,  the  buildings 
to  be  erected,  etc.,  the  arrangement  of  furloughs,  the  care  of 
missionaries  who  may  be  ill  or  who  may  need  to  return  home. 
In  short,  it  is  a  complicated  business  enterprise  requiring  great 
skill  for  its  economical  and  efficient  prosecution. 

4.      PRINCIPLES   AND   PROBLEMS    OF   MODERN   MISSIONS 

Theological. — It  is  becoming  increasingly  clear,  especially 
in  the  foreign-mission  field  itself,  that  it  is  a  vain  task  to 
endeavor  to  reproduce  for  peoples  of  traditions  differing  from 
our  own  the  religious  forms,  doctrinal  statements,  and 
ecclesiastical  names  which  belong  to  our  special  religious 
heritage.  We  no  longer  think  of  salvation  as  dependent  upon 
the  acceptance  of  certain  redemptive  facts.  We  are  con- 
cerned with  a  religious  experience  of  faith,  dependence,  and 
love  toward  the  God  of  righteousness  and  love,  whom  we 
know  in  Jesus — an  experience  which  shall  function  ethically 
in  human  relations.  What  may  such  an  experience  be  for  a 
Chinese  disciple  of  Confucius,  for  a  Japanese  Buddhist,  for 
a  Hindu,  for  a  Moslem,  for  a  Congo  fetish-worshiper  ?  Evi- 
dently these  questions  are  to  be  answered  in  the  light  of  the 


634        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

most  careful  and  sympathetic  study  of  the  particular  people, 
with  an  appreciation  of  the  best  in  morals  and  religion  that 
they  have  produced,  and  with  a  broad  realization  that  our 
Western  Christianity  is  a  specialized  type,  and  is  not  an 
unchangeable  norm  for  all  peoples  and  times.  The  great 
simpHfication  which  the  modern  theological  point  of  view 
brings  to  the  missionary  is  ably  discussed  by  Macintosh 
in  an  article  entitled  "The  New  Christianity  and  World- 
Conversion,"  American  Journal  of  Theology,  XVIII  (July 
and  October,  1914),  337-54  and  553-70. 

Sociological. — Our  Christianity  partakes  of  the  genius  of 
our  Western  democratic  social  organization,  unless  indeed  it 
still  belongs  to  the  aristocratic  organization  of  feudalism. 
How  far  is  it  adapted  to  the  social  organization  of  another 
people  ?  Is  the  church,  whether  it  be  episcopal,  presbyte- 
rian,  or  congregational  in  its  government,  a  natural  form  of 
social  organization  for  Africans,  for  Hindus,  for  Chinese  ?  Is 
the  community  life  of  the  American  missionary  family  a 
helpful  example  in  those  different  lands  ?  Is  the  American 
boarding-school  system,  or  the  day  school,  whether  or  not 
coeducational,  the  best  means  of  educating  all  people  ?  What 
shall  be  our  attitude  in  the  face  of  such  a  practice  as  polygamy  ? 
Shall  a  man  put  away  all  his  wives  save  one  as  a  condition  of 
entering  the  church  ?  How  shall  we  meet  such  social  con- 
ditions as  foot-binding  (now,  to  be  sure,  scarcely  a  problem) ; 
the  marriage  of  children  without  their  own  consent;  the 
veneration  of  ancestors,  which  is  regarded  as  filial  piety;  the 
worship  of  the  emperor,  which  is  regarded  as  patriotism; 
the  festival,  which  is  a  pageantry  expressive  of  race  life  and 
which  yet  may  have  undesirable  elements  ?  Evidently  there  is 
a  mass  of  problems  requiring  the  most  tactful  and  scientific 
consideration.  We  cannot  pull  up  a  race  by  the  roots.  We 
cannot  separate  it  from  its  social  heritage.  We  do  not  want 
to  produce  slavish  imitations  of  our  foreign  customs.  The 
people  must  continue  in  their  own  social  process  with  the 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  635 

new  urge,  motive,  and  hope  of  the  essential  Christian 
spirit. 

EducationaL — Missionary  work  both  at  home  and  abroad 
has  been  increasingly  educational.  The  missionary  found 
very  soon  that  he  must  concern  himself  with  the  youth.  Ele- 
mentary schools  are  to  be  found  in  practically  all  missions. 
Secondary  schools  of  good  grade  have  followed  wherever  pos- 
sible, and  a  number  of  good  colleges  afford  advanced  educa- 
tional opportunities  under  Christian  auspices.  An  insistent 
missionary  problem  is  that  of  the  adaptation  of  educational 
procedure  to  the  experience  and  needs  of  the  various  peoples. 
We  are  only  beginning  to  learn  this  principle  in  our  own 
education.  Just  as  we  formerly  supposed  that  religion  was 
religion,  so  we  also  thought  that  education  was  education. 
Each  would  have  been  expressed  in  terms  of  a  certain  content. 
People  were  to  be  saved  by  accepting  our  theology  and  to  be 
educated  by  learning  what  we  had  learned.  Thus  today  the 
Sunday-school  literature  which  is  prepared  for  Americans  is 
translated  and  used,  with  its  Western  illustrations  and  sug- 
gestions, all  over  the  world.  American  hymns  are  translated 
regardless  of  the  applicability  of  the  symbols  and  imagery  to 
another  people.  The  tunes  are  carried  over  without  considering 
whether  they  accord  with  the  musical  genius  of  other  peoples. 

Education  is  a  process  of  progressive  socialization.  It 
must  take  account  of  the  habitat,  the  inheritance,  the  social 
conditions  of  a  people.  What  is  the  best  education  for  an 
Indian  on  a  western  reservation,  for  the  negro  boys  and  girls 
of  the  South,  for  the  Japanese  in  a  Christian  academy,  for  a 
low-caste  Hindu  in  a  village  of  India,  for  the  native  pastors 
who  are  to  lead  their  people  in  the  various  lands  ?  These  ques- 
tions cannot  be  answered  offhand  by  the  simple  transference 
of  the  corresponding  grade  of  an  American  school.  Edu- 
cation must  have  relation  to  social  experience.  These  matters 
are  being  seriously  considered  by  modern  students  of  missions. 
They  were  much  discussed  in  the  Edinburgh  Conference,  and 


636        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

further  investigations  are  being  made  which  will  doubtless 
result  in  large  improvement. 

The  education  of  the  missionary  himself  is  a  most  interest- 
ing problem.  Out  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference,  which  gave 
great  attention  to  the  matter,  have  come  some  marked 
reorganizations  of  curriculum  in  the  theological  seminaries. 
Historical,  psychological,  sociological,  pedagogical,  and  lin- 
guistic studies  must  be  included  in  the  missionary  preparation. 
Above  all,  there  must  be  an  understanding  of  the  modem 
world  in  which  the  missionary  church  and  community  is 
to  live  its  life.  The  divinity  schools  will  most  naturally 
continue  to  give  this  preparation,  especially  those  that  are 
connected  with  universities.  The  training  of  women 'for 
home  and  foreign  missionary  service  has  been  undertaken 
by  special  training  schools,  and  these  are  developing  their 
standards  in  a  very  satisfactory  manner. 

Ecclesiastical. — A  common  impulse  has  led  all  denomina- 
tions to  undertake  the  various  forms  of  missionary  work. 
For  the  most  part  there  has  been  little  zeal  of  denominational 
propaganda,  but  father  the  larger  desire  for  the  extension  of 
the  Christian  faith.  In  home  and  city  missions,  where  there 
was  a  definite  possibility  of  the  establishment  of  churches 
that  would  become  self-supporting  and  in  time  contributory, 
the  element  of  rivalry  and  competition  inevitably  obtruded 
itself.  In  missions  that  were  not  likely  to  add  to  the  denomi- 
national vigor  and  prestige  this  was  not  so  marked.  But  in 
any  case  serious  overlapping  inevitably  developed,  while 
great  gaps  existed  where  no  Christian  work  was  carried  on  at 
all.  Long  before  the  problem  of  denominational  comity  arose 
at  home  the  foreign  missionaries  themselves  felt  its  impera- 
tive necessity.  And  they  have  been  constantly  in  advance 
of  the  home  church  in  furthering  this  needed  reform.  Among 
the  great  foreign  missionary  boards  the  world  has  been  fairly 
divided,  with  the  purpose  that  a  given  denomination  shall, 
as  far  as  possible,  be  given  full  responsibility  for  a  given  terri- 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  637 

tory.  Some  difficult  problems  arise  in  regard  to  ecclesiastical 
procedure.  Manifestly,  if  one  denomination  is  in  sole  pos- 
session of  a  certain  region.it  ought  to  receive  members  of 
other  denominations  into  full  membership  in  its  churches. 
This  matter  is  still  to  be  worked  out. 

Comity  has  proceeded  more  slowly  at  home  than  abroad. 
The  wretched  rivalry  of  home-mission  churches  in  small 
places  and  in  frontier  districts  has  come  to  be  recognized  as  a 
shame  to  Christianity.  The  economic  waste,  the  inefficiency, 
the  un-Christian  spirit  which  has  resulted  from  this  often 
bitter  competition  are  becoming  clear.  In  a  few  cities  inter- 
denominational councils  have  been  appointed  with  the  re- 
sponsibility of  deciding  where  there  is  room  for  new  churches, 
and  of  apportioning  the  new  territor)^  fairly  among  the 
denominations.  There  are  always,  however,  certain  intense 
sectarians  who  refuse  to  abide  by  such  decisions.  Much  still 
remains  to  be  done  in  this  direction. 

Beyond  comity  is  co-operation.  At  this  point  again  the 
foreign  field  is  in  the  lead.  In  several  localities,  notably  in 
Western  China,  an  interdenominational  university  has  been 
started.  When  one  denomination  is  unable  to  send  out  mis- 
sionary applicants,  other  boards  are  sending  them  without 
asking  them  to  change  their  denominational  affiliations.  If 
the  foreign  missionaries  were  left  to  themselves  there  would 
probably  soon  be  an  end  of  real  denominationalism  altogether. 
The  matter  is  more  difficult  at  home,  where  vested  interests 
are  at  stake,  but  progress  is  being  made.  The  leading  divinity 
schools  are  becoming  interdenominational  or  undenomina- 
tional. Certain  forms  of  missionary  work  are  supported  by 
several  boards  in  co-operation.  Evangelistic  activities  which 
are  essentially  missionary  in  their  character  are  generally 
interconfessional.  The  problem  in  its  practical  phases  is 
vital  and  ever  more  insistent. 

One  of  the  greatest  of  all  foreign  missionary  problems  is 
that  which  has  come  to  be  called  technically  "devolution," 


638        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

that  is,  the  transfer  of  ecclesiastical  control  from  the  mission 
board  in  America  and  its  representative  missionary  to  the 
native  church  itself.  An  interesting  study  on  this  subject 
has  been  made  by  Fleming  in  a  Doctor's  thesis  (University 
of  Chicago)  on  Missionary  Devolution  in  India.  The  Japanese 
church  has  already  asserted  its  independence.  Fundamentally 
this  is  more  than  a  mere  matter  of  administrative  control; 
it  involves  the  question  whether  there  is  any  sort  of  propriety 
in  transplanting  Western  denominationalism  to  foreign  lands. 
If  one  believes  that  a  certain  form  of  church  polity  and  ritual 
has  been  divinely  ordained  to  be  observed  everywhere  and  at 
all  times,  manifestly  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  to  impose  it' 
upon  all  converts.  To  those  who  do  not  find  a  hard-and-fast 
ecclesiasticism  in  the  New  Testament,  but  rather  a  glorious 
way  of  life  taking  upon  itself  certain  convenient  external 
forms,  there  will  be  no  impropriety  in  allowing  Japanese, 
Chinese,  or  Indian  genius  to  find  for  itself  the  vehicles  through 
which  the  spirit  of  Jesus  may  express  itself  and  institutionalize 
itself  in  those  lands. 

Literature. — J.  L.  Barton,  Educational  Missions  (New  York:  Student 
Volunteer  Movement,  1913).  (Discusses  in  popular  form  different 
aspects  and  problems  of  education  in  the  mission  field  and  shows  its 
value  as  a  part  of  the  missionary  enterprise.  One  of  the  best  books  on 
this  subject.)  E.  W.  Capen,  Sociological  Progress  in  Mission  Lands 
(New  York:  Revell,  1914).  (A  study  of  missionary  work  by  a  trained 
sociologist.  Treats  the  problems  met  in  the  mission  field  and  shows 
the  progress  that  has  been  made  in  the  removal  of  ignorance,  inefficiency, 
and  poverty.  The  book  is  a  convincing  statement  of  the  constructive 
power  of  Christian  ideals.)  Louise  Creighton,  Missions,  Their  Rise  and 
Development  (New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  191 2  [Home  University 
Library  Series]).  (A  small  volume  intended  for  popular  reading  but 
containing  much  valuable  historical  and  descriptive  material.  A  good 
book  to  recommend  to*those  who  have  only  a  slight  interest  in  missions.) 
J.  S.  Dennis,  The  Modern  Call  of  Missions  (New  York:  Revell,  1913). 
(Consists  of  a  review  of  some  articles  formerly  published  in  different 
periodicals.  Discusses  especially  the  relation  of  missions  to  diplomacy, 
national  evolution,  and  commerce.     The  chapters  are  disconnected  and 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  639 

make  no  pretense  of  thoroughness.  The  book  is  of  special  value  because 
of  the  light  it  throws  upon  the  governmental  aspects  of  missionary  work.) 
George  S.  Eddy,  The  New  Era  in  Asia  (New  York:  Missionary  Education 
Movement,  1914).  (Gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  religious 
awakening  that  is  taking  place  in  Asia.  Full  of  striking  facts  gleaned 
from  the  author's  own  investigations.  An  inspirational  book  by  a 
noted  missionary  leader.)  *W.  H.  P.  Faunce,  Social  Aspects  of  Foreign 
Missions  (New  York:  Missionary  Education  Movement,  19 14).  (One 
of  the  best  missionary  books  of  recent  years.  Written  by  a  man  in 
thorough  sympathy  with  mission  work  in  its  broadest  sense.  Gives  inter- 
esting facts  about  the  social  achievements  of  missionaries  and  discusses 
the  enlarging  function  of  the  modern  missionary.)  A.  E.  Garvie,  The 
Missionary  Obligation  and  Modern  Thought  (London:  Hodder  &  Stough- 
ton,  1914).  (Deals  with  the  changes  which  have  occurred  in  modern 
thought  concerning  the  Bible,  theology,  and  non-Christian  religions,  and 
shows  the  bearing  of  this  changed  viewpoint  upon  foreign  missions. 
Written  from  the  standpoint  of  a  conservative  scholar  not  in  sympathy 
with  present  liberal  tendencies.)  I.  T.  Headland,  Some  Byproducts 
of  Missions  (Cincinnati:  Jennings  &  Graham,  1912).  (A  popular  pres- 
entation of  the  indirect  results  of  missions.  A  stimulating  book  that 
enlarges  one's  conception  of  the  missionary  enterprise.)  W.  S.  Hooton, 
The  Missionary  Campaign  (London:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  191 2). 
(An  elementary  book  dealing  with  the  theory  and  principles  of  missions. 
Useful  as  a  popular  discussion  of  the  subject  in  a  small  compass.)  Shailer 
Mathews,  The  Individual  and  the  Social  Gospel  (New  York:  Missionary 
Education  Movetnent,  1914).  (Develops  the  thesis  that  the  gospel  must 
be  a  social  gospel,  because  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  individual  inde- 
pendent of  social  conditions.)  *J.  R.  Mott,  The  Present  World  Situation 
(New  York:  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  1914).  (Discusses  the 
need  of  statesmanship  in  missions,  the  problems  involved  in  the  meeting 
of  the  East  and  the  West,  and  the  necessity  of  spiritual  power  in  the 
missionary  enterprise.)  Scott  Nearing,  Social  Religion  (New  York: 
MacmUlan,  1913).  (Emphasizes  the  social  viewpoint  of  Jesus  and 
points  out  the  need  of  a  social  gospel  to  regenerate  modern  society. 
Discusses  definite  social  problems,  such  as  poverty,  unemployment, 
child  labor,  and  the  discontent  of  the  masses,  with  special  reference  to  the 
responsibility  of  the  Christian  church.  Popular  in  treatment  and 
very  suggestive.)  C.  Stelzle,  American  Social  and  Religious  Conditions 
(New  York:  Revell,  1912).  (A  study  of  the  facts  and  conditions  of 
present-day  society  in  America.  Discusses  various  aspects  of  industrial 
problems  and  points  out  the  part  that  the  church  can  play  in  a  program 


640        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  social  betterment.)  H.  C.  Vedder,  The  Gospel  of  Jesus  and  the  Prob- 
lems of  Democracy  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1914).  (A  criticism  of  the 
church  for  failure  to  lay  emphasis  upon  the  problem  of  economic  injustice. 
Has  a  bearing  on  home-  and  city-mission  policies.)  C.  H.  Robinson, 
History  of  Christian  Missions  (New  York:  Scribner,  1915).  (Indis- 
pensable for  a  thorough  scientific  survey  of  the  history.  Full  statistics 
are  brought  up  to  1 9 1 5 .  This  work  deals  only  slightly  with  problems  and 
principles.)  C.  H.  Robinson,  The  Interpretation  of  the  Character  of 
Christ  to  Non-Christian  Races  (London:  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1910). 
(Endeavors  to  show  how  the  Christian  message  may  be  presented  in  an 
understanding  way  to  people  of  other  faiths.  Rather  conservative  in 
viewpoint.  Discusses  the  best  ideals  of  some  of  the  oriental  religions.) 
*R.  E.  Speer,  Christianity  and  the  Nations  (New  York:  Revell,  1910). 
(A  comprehensive  treatment  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  missions, 
including  such  themes  as  the  basis,  aims,  and  methods  of  missions,  the 
problems  of  the  native  church,  Christianity  and  the  non-Christian 
religions,  etc.  An  excellent  and  suggestive  work.)  *World  Missionary 
Conference,  9  vols.  (New  York:  Revell,  1910).  (Contains  full  reports  of 
the  commissions  appointed  to  investigate  all  phases  of  modern  missions. 
A  mine  of  information  for  missionary  addresses.  Full  of  facts  gleaned 
from  the  experiences  of  many  missionaries.) 

Magazines:  International  Review  of  Missions,  J.  H.  Oldham,  editor 
(i  Charlotte  Square,  Edinburgh).  (A  magazine  devoted  to  the  scientific 
study  of  missionary  principles  and  practice.  Contains  articles  on  vari- 
ous aspects  of  missions  by  authors  of  wide  reputation.  The  bibliography 
and  reviews  of  current  missionary  literature  make  it  invaluable  for  the 
student  of  missions.)  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  D.  L.  Pierson, 
editor  (New  York:  Funk  &  Wagnalls  Co.).  (A  missionary  magazine 
filled  with  fresh  facts  from  the  field.  Inspirational  in  character,  but 
represents  a  conservative  viewpoint.  Contains  valuable  book  reviews 
and  excellent  suggestions  for  missionary  meetings.) 

VII.      RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION 
I.      DEFINITION   AND    SCOPE 

Under  the  title  "  catechetics "  practical  theology  has 
always  concerned  itself  with  the  problems  of  the  religious 
education  of  the  young.  As  that  name  implies,  it  has  been  a 
study  of  the  means  by  which  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the 
church  and  the  social  duties  of  its  members  might  be  made 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  641 

clear  to  children.  The  principal  method  employed  until 
recent  times  was  the  catechism,  with  illustrations,  explanatory 
sermons,  etc.  It  has  always  been  regarded  as  the  duty  of  the 
pastor  to  supervise  the  religious  training  of  the  children  of 
his  parish,  and  personally  to  prepare  them  for  church  member- 
ship. The  development  of  the  Sunday  school  somewhat 
enlarged  the  task  of  practical  theology,  but  until  lately  the 
educational  work  of  the  church  has  not  been  a  matter  of  very 
serious  theological  consideration.  In  the  curriculum  of  the 
theological  seminary  of  twenty  years  ago  a  few  lectures  on  the 
pastor's  relation  to  the  Sunday  school  covered  all  that  was 
done  in  this  field. 

It  is  now  coming  to  be  recognized  that  religious  education 
is  to  be  so  broadly  conceived  that  it  will  cover  a  very  large 
part  of  the  function  of  the  church.  Faunce,  in  The  Educational 
Ideal  in  the  Ministry,  very  definitely  presents  this  considera- 
tion as  fundamental  to  the  effective  modern  church. 

Religious  education  considered  as  a  science  is  a  study  of 
the  developing  moral-religious  experience  in  order  to  determine 
the  principles  of  its  healthiest  growth,  and  the  methods, 
materials,  and  activities  by  which  that  growth  may  be  fur- 
thered. While  a  theoretical  difference  does  exist  between 
morality  and  religion,  practically  they  cannot  be  separated. 

2.      THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

This  is  a  vast  field.  It  must  suffice  simply  to  indicate 
the  ground  to  be  covered. 

Primitive  religious  education. — There  is  little  education, 
properly  so  called,  among  primitive  peoples.  There  is  rather 
a  training  in  the  technique  of  living  which  is  acquired  by  imi- 
tation. At  puberty,  however,  among  many  peoples,  elaborate 
and  significant  initiation  ceremonies,  generally  of  a  religious 
character,  take  place.  There  -is  often  some  body  of  instruc- 
tion given  to  the  youth  by  the  elders;  sometimes  the  secrets 
of  the  tribe  are  then  revealed.     Recent  scholars  have  called 


642        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

attention  to  the  significant  parallel  between  these  practices 
and  the  confirmation  ritual  or  the  conversion  experience,  at 
the  period  of  early  adolescence,  in  Christian  churches.  Ames 
has  discussed  the  subject  in  The  Psychology  of  Religious  Experi- 
ence (Boston:   Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  1910). 

Hebrew  religious  education. — The  Hebrew  elementary- 
school  system  probably  arose  shortly  before,  or  shortly  after, 
the  time  of  Christ.  There  were  no  "schools  of  the  prophets" 
in  early  Israel.  Religion  was  a  training  developed  by  the 
sacrifices,  festivals,  and  customs,  and  later  by  the  synagogue 
service,  with  its  prayers,  scriptures,  and  instruction.  The 
Hebrew  life  at  its  best  was  deeply  religious,  and  the  child 
grew  into  it  as  his  inheritance. 

Literature. — The  article  "Education"  in  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the 
Bible  may  be  consulted  for  detaUs;  also  Schiirer,  The  Jewish  People  in 
the  Time  of  Jesus  Christ,  II,  chap,  ii,  47-83. 

Greek  and  Roman  religious  education. — The  developed 
education  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  youth  was  intimately 
connected  with  religion.  It  is  the  individualism  of  Chris- 
tianity that  has  made  its  religious  education  so  different  from 
that  of  other  peoples.  When  religion  is  the  national  posses- 
sion, every  youth  comes  into  an  appreciation  of  its  significance 
just  as  he  acquires  patriotism  and  the  moral  standards  of  his 
group.  We  have  much  to  learn  from  an  understanding  of  this 
acquisition  of  moral  and  religious  ideals  by  means  of  the 
social  inheritance. 

Literature. — Classical  education  is  discussed  by  Monroe,  Textbook 
in  the  History  of  Education  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1907). 

Early  Christian  education. — There  is  very  little  reference 
to  education  in  the  New  Testament.  Education  being  so 
largely  a  discipline  in  the  communal  life,  the  disciples  took  for 
granted  that  the  children  of  Christians  would  grow  up  in  the 
practice  of  the  Christian  life.  The  catechumenate  was  estab- 
lished especially  for  the  instruction  of  the  heathen  before  their 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  643 

reception  into  the  church.  Later  it  became  customary  for 
children  to  receive  catechetical  instruction  before  their  con- 
firmation. The  details  of  this  matter  have  never  been  thor- 
oughly studied. 

Literature. — Geraldine  Hodgson's  Primitive  Christian  Culture 
(Edinburgh:  Clark,  1906)  is  rather  a  study  of  the  relation  of  the  early 
Christian  leaders  to  the  Graeco-Roman  learning. 

Religious  education  in  the  Middle  Ages. — The  church 
councils  constantly  laid  emphasis  upon  the  duty  of  pastors  to 
catechize.  There  was  evidently  great  laxity  on  the  part  of 
the  priesthood.  Religion  was  largely  participation  in  the 
festivals  and  ceremonials  of  the  common  religious  life.  The 
most  notable  education,  which  was  not  without  its  religious 
character,  was  that  of  chivalry.  Here  the  child  entered  on  a 
system  of  discipline  which  was  not  acquired  from  books  but 
from  the  activities  of  life.  He  learned  how  to  live  and  to  be- 
have as  a  page.  In  due  time  the  youth  learned  the  duties  of  a 
squire.  At  last,  with  the  most  solemn  and  impressive  religious 
ceremonial,  he  took  the  vows  of  knighthood.  Our  modern 
book  education,  so  little  related  to  life,  and  bereft  of  pageantry 
and  ceremonial,  has  much  to  learn  from  the  extraordinary 
effectiveness  with  which  the  ideals  of  knighthood  were  so  often 
achieved  in  that  rude  age.  Monroe  has  a  brief  discussion  of 
this  discipline. 

In  a  less  degree  a  similar  life- training  was  effected  by  the 
trade  apprenticeships,  and  in  the  homes,  both  high  and  low, 
by  the  teaching  given  the  girls  in  the  performance  of  house- 
wifely duties. 

Humanism  and  its  effect  on  religious  education. — Human- 
ism, with  its  great  appreciation  of  learning,  brought  about 
the  change  from  discipline  to  instruction.  The  youth  must 
learn  the  things  that  could  be  known,  especially  the  classic 
literature,  and  in  religion  he  must  know  the  Bible  and  the 
Creed.  To  be  sure,  there  was  great  emphasis  upon  the 
exercises  of  religion,  but  there  was  far  more  upon  the  material. 


644        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

That  emphasis  characterizes  the  schools  of  Germany  and  of 
Great  Britain  to  this  day,  and  persists  in  many  of  the  American 
churches.  Its  fundamental  methods  were  the  memorizing 
of  Scripture  and  of  catechism  and  the  explanation  of  these 
in  terms  of  duties,  moral  and  religious.  The  educational  error 
is  in  exalting  the  significance  of  material  above  the  needs  of 
the  developing  human  personality. 

Literature. — See  Watson,  English  Grammar  Schools  to  1660  (Cam- 
bridge: University  Press,  1908).  For  the  great  educationalinfluence  of 
Luther,  Painter,  Luther  on  Education  (Philadelphia:  Lutheran  Pub.  Co., 
1889),  may  be  consulted.  The  Jesuits,  in  order  to  meet  the  new  Protes- 
tant education,  developed  their  own  characteristic  system,  which  is  well 
described  in  Hughes,  Loyola  and  the  Educational  System  of  the  Jesuits 
(New  York:  Scribner,  1892). 

The  Sunday  school. — The  great  development  of  religious 
education  arose  from  the  voluntary  efforts  of  the  laity  to  give 
religious  instruction  to  neglected  children.  While  the  clergy 
in  England,  and  especially  in  America,  were  supposed  to 
catechize  all  the  children  of  their  parishes,  there  were  in  fact 
large  numbers  who  received  no  religious  instruction  at  all. 
Many  sporadic  efforts  were  made  during  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury to  meet  this  neglect.  The  one  which  attained  public 
recognition,  and  therefore  permanence,  was  that  of  Mr.  Robert 
Raikes,  of  Gloucester,  who  established  schools  on  Sundays  for 
poor  children  who  could  not  go  to  school  on  week  days.  He 
provided  that  they  should  be  taught  to  read  in  order  that  they 
might  be  able  to  read  the  Bible  and  the  catechism — the 
chief  purpose  of  reading,  according  to  practically  all  school 
authorities  in  the  eighteenth  century.  The  name  "Sunday 
school"  was  given  to  this  new  institution,  and  it  soon  spread 
over  all  England  and  Wales,  but  not  so  readily  in  Scotland, 
where  religious  training  was  better  administered.  It  was 
imported  into  America  and  attained  great  vogue.  National 
organizations  were  formed  for  its  propagation.  At  last  an 
international  organization  and  a  World's  Sunday  School  Con- 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  645 

vention  organized  all  the  forces  of  the  Protestant  world  in  a 
united  work. 

Literature. — A  popular  and  brief  treatment  of  this  subject  is  Cope, 
The  Evolution  of  the  Sunday  School  (Boston:  Pilgrim  Press,  191 1).  A 
fuller  discussion  for  America  is  Brown,  Sunday  School  Movements  in 
America  {Chicdigo:  Revell,  1901).  The  convention  reports  of  the  inter- 
national Sunday  School  Association  record  the  progress  and  statistics 
of  the  movement. 

The  modem  religious  educational  emphasis.— While  the 

Sunday  school  in  its  extensive  effort  went  into  every  com- 
munity in  Great  Britain  and  America  and  spread  over  the 
whole  world,  its  work  for  the  most  part  was,  and  is  still,  very 
superficial.  The  Sunday-school  teacher  is  generally  entirely 
untrained.  Sunday-school  literature  has  until  recently  been 
far  below  the  standards  of  the  public  school.  Sunday-school 
work  has  been  enthusiastic  and  inspirational,  but  not  educa- 
tional. During  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  in  England  and 
America  expert  educators  have  given  much  attention  to  the 
matter  of  religious  education,  earnestly  advocating  reforms 
and  improvements. 

In  1903  the  Religious  Education  Association  was  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  uniting  all  persons  interested  in  the  subject 
in  a  common  endeavor  to  further  religion,  by  educational 
means,  in  home,  school,  church,  community,  and  in  all 
human  life.  The  International  Sunday  School  Association 
has  been  hospitable  to  the  newer  ideals  and  has  invited  the 
co-operation  of  religious  educators  and  given  them  place  on 
its  boards  and  committees.  It  has  completely  revised  its 
curriculum,  presenting  a  graded  course  of  study  from  the 
kindergarten  to  the  adult  classes.  This  has  been  accepted 
and  issued  in  text  pamphlet  form  by  the  leading  denomina- 
tional publishing  houses.  Other  systems  of  graded  curricula 
have  been  developed,  most  notably  the  "Constructive 
Studies"    published   by    the    University   of   Chicago   Press, 


646        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  "Completely  Graded  Series"  published  by  Scribner,  and 
the  new  graded  system  announced  by  the  Unitarian  Board. 

The  problem  of  moral  and  rehgious  education  in  the 
pubb'c  schools  has  received  earnest  attention  during  recent 
years.  The  great  controversy  over  sectarian  education  in 
England  produced  the  Moral  Education  League,  which 
developed  a  series  of  textbooks  in  the  field.  Sadler's  two- 
volume  Moral  Instruction  and  Training  in  Schools  is  a  con- 
spectus of  what  is  being  attempted  in  this  direction  all  over 
the  world.  The  proceedings  of  the  National  Education 
Association  and  of  the  Religious  Education  Association  con- 
tain numerous  papers  presenting  the  various  points  of  view 
of  education  in  America. 

Numerous  very  interesting  experiments,  notably  that  at 
Gary,  have  recently  come  into  operation.  These  will  need 
most  careful  observation  and  criticism.  A  valuable  beginning 
of  such  evaluation  has  been  made  in  the  reports  published  in 
Religious  Education,  February,  1916. 

3.      DATA  OF  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

General  psychology. — Religious  education  is  concerned 
with  a  process  in  consciousness.  Religion  is  a  complex  of 
attitudes,  dispositions,  habits,  ideals;  it  is  concerned  with 
reactions  of  thought,  of  feeling,  of  conduct;  it  has  to  do  with 
imagination,  memory,  association.  Education  in  religion 
can  only  be  understood  as  consciousness  in  all  these  aspects 
is  understood.  The  science  of  consciousness  is  psychology, 
which  therefore  must  be  fundamental  in  the  study  and  prac- 
tice of  religious  education. 

Genetic  psychology. — The  human  personality,  conceived 
as  a  psycho-physical  organism,  is  in  process  of  development. 
From  birth  to  maturity  there  are  interrelated  changes,  physical 
and  psychical,  which  determine  the  nature  of  the  organism  at 
any  period  of  its  growth.  Education  cannot  deal  with  mem- 
ory, imagination,  reasoning,  but  with  these  functions  of  con- 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  647 

sciousness  as  they  operate  at  any  given  stage  of  development. 
The  science  of  the  developing  consciousness  is  genetic  psy- 
chology, which  thus  becomes  of  high  importance  to  the 
religious  educator. 

Literature. — Irving  King's  Psychology  oj  Child  Development  (Chicago: 
The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1903)  is  good  for  the  first  years  of  life 
and  his  High  School  Age  for  the  study  of  adolescence.  Kirkpatrick's 
Pundamentals  of  Child  Study  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1903)  is  a  more 
general  work. 

Social  psychology. — Education  is  also  a  social  process. 
Indeed,  it  cannot  be  defined  apart  from  the  use  of  social  terms. 
Thus  the  special  phase  of  psychology  which  is  concerned  with 
the  study  of  the  social  nature  of  consciousness  and  the  inter- 
pretation of  reciprocal  personal  relations  is  contributory  to 
education. 

Literature. — Cooley's  Human  Nature  and  the  Social  Order  (New 
York:  Scribner,  1901)  is  a  good  introductory  work  in  this  field. 

Anthropology. — All  subjects  today  are  studied  genetically. 
Every  phase  of  our  religious  experience  has  its  history  and  is 
illuminated  by  an  understanding  of  its  genesis  and  develop- 
ment. A  knowledge  of  the  life,  culture,  and  education  of 
primitive  man  and  of  the  less  developed  races  is -of  great 
value  for  the  appreciation  of  modern  problems.  The  fact 
that  the  correspondences  between  primitive  and  child  life 
have  been  greatly  overstated  does  not  lessen  the  importance 
of  the  contribution  of  anthropology  to  education. 

Literature. — The  reading  of  Thomas'  Source  Book  of  Social  Origins 
(Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909)  reveals  at  once  the 
significant  educational  implications  of  this  subject. 

The  psychology  of  religion. — As  religious  education  is  con- 
cerned with  the  development  of  the  moral-religious  life,  it  is 
obvious  that  it  must  understand  the  nature  of  the  experience 
which  it  seeks  to  promote.  The  psychology  of  religion  studies 
and  interprets  that  experience,  thus  furnishing  the  religious 


648        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

educator  with  the  means  of  understanding  his  task  and  esti- 
mating his  results.  This  is  also  a  new  science,  and  so  depend- 
ent is  religious  education  upon  the  progress  of  the  psychology 
of  religion  that  the  two  can  scarcely  be  separated  in  practical 
study.  This  science  holds  so  large  a  relation  to  the  whole 
field  of  practical  theology  that  it  has  seemed  wise  to  give  it  a 
brief  separate  treatment,  with  some  discussion  of  its  literature 
(see  below,  pp.  663  £f.). 

General  education. — Education  is  a  unitary  process. 
Religious  education  is  not  a  distinct  undertaking  which  can 
be  separated  from  so-called  "secular"  education.  Every 
educational  process  has  its  ethical  and  religious  influence. 
Whether  we  work  in  church  or  in  school,  we  deal  with  the 
same  human  instincts,  dispositions,  capacities,  emotions,  ideas, 
activities.  Religious  education  is  only  a  special  emphasis. 
If  it  is  to  be  broad  and  wise  it  must  keep  close  to  the  principles 
and  methods  which  education  in  general  has  worked  out. 
Education  has  made  great  advances  in  recent  years;  it  has  a 
hundred  experts  where  religious  education  has  one.  The 
younger  branch  of  the  science  does  well,  therefore,  to  learn 
very  humbly  from  the  elder. 

Literature. — Thorndike's  Education  (New  York:  Macmillan,  191 2) 
is  a  representative  non-technical  treatise  in  the  larger  field. 

4.      THEORIES   OF   RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION 

There  is  a  theory  of  religious  education,  held  by  not  a  few 
persons  who  are  not  themselves  religious,  which- may  be  called 
prophylactic.  A  writer  on  the  subject  actually  stated  that 
he  would  wish  to  have  his  own  child  brought  up  in  the  strictest 
type  of  Calvinism  till  he  was  about  eleven  years  of  age,  after 
which  he  would  gradually  let  him  get  rid  of  it.  A  lady  who 
does  not  regard  the  church  as  useful  to  herself  allowed  her 
children  to  engage  in  all  its  activities,  and  frankly  stated 
that  it  seemed  to  be  about  the  best  thing  for  them  until 
they  reached  fifteen  years  of  age.  These  views  would  seem 
to  indicate  that  religion  is  a  lower  stage  of  culture  through 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  649 

which  the  child  must  pass  on  his  way  to  that  of  the  super- 
rehgious  man. 

The  culture-epochs  theory. — The  only  theory  of  religious 
education  which  has  actually  gained  a  name  is  that  which 
has  come  over  from  the  field  of  general  education  and  is 
founded  on  the  recapitulation  theory.  As  biology  was  sup- 
posed to  have  proved  that  the  individual  recapitulated,  in 
the  prenatal  stage,  the  history  of  his  whole  line  of  ancestors,  so 
by  an  interesting  analogy  it  was  assumed  that  in  his  postnatal 
stage  he  passed  through  the  various  periods  of  culture  through 
which  the  race  has  passed.  Born  an  animal,  he  developed  into 
a  savage — this  stage  roughly  comprising  the  period  of  child- 
hood— thence  into  a  barbarian  at  adolescence,  and  so  grad- 
ually into  a  civilized  man.  This  being  the  case,  it  was 
positively  advantageous  that  he  should  live  a  genuinely  sav- 
age and  barbarian  life  lest,  like  the  tadpole  deprived  of  his 
tail,  he  should  be  cut  off  from  his  natural  development.  This 
theory  is  worked  out  in  great  completeness  and  with  much 
interest  in  G.Sta.n\eyIlalVs  Adolescence  (New  York:  Appleton, 
1904).  The  theory  has  largely  lost  its  vogue  in  recent  years, 
as  both  the  biologist  and  anthropologist  have  denied  its 
basis.  At  the  best  it  would  be  a  very  unsafe  guide  by  which 
to  organize  a  system  of  education. 

The  preparation  theory. — The  process  of  religious  educa- 
tion has  very  often  been  regarded  as  the  means  by  which  the 
immature  person  was  prepared  for  mature  life.  Spencer 
has  given  us  a  great  definition  of  education  as  preparation  for 
complete  living.  It  would  be  idle  to  deny  that  there  is  a  large 
element  of  truth  in  this  view,  but  it  does  not  sufficiently  take 
account  of  the  most  important  fact  that  living  itself  is  the 
only  preparation  for  larger  living.  The  boy  is  best  prepared 
to  be  a  man  by  being  a  complete  boy.  The  danger  of  the 
preparation  theory  is  that  it  may  degenerate  into  a  cold- 
storage  theory.  For  example,  because  later  childhood  is 
supposed  to  be  a  time  of  peculiar  ability  in  memorizing,  it  has 
often  been  insisted  that  advantage  should  be  taken  of  this 


650        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

fact  to  "store  the  mind"  with  material  that  would  be  useful 
later  on.  W.  W.  Smith,  in  his  book  Religious  Education 
(Milwaukee:  Young  Churchman  Co.,  1909),  defends  this 
view.  It  has  been  carried  by  some  to  such  an  extreme  that 
abstract  theological  definitions,  expressed  in  elaborate 
formulas,  have  been  committed  to  memory  by  children,  who 
are  expected  to  retain  them  till  some  future  time  when 
they  would  become  useful.  This  is  to  offend  against  the 
soundest  principles  of  pedagogy.  There  can  be  no  value  in 
learning  anything  that  does  not  have  some  point  of  contact 
with  experience,  and  nothing  can  be  more  unfortunate  than 
to  associate  religion  with  meaningless  abstractions. 

The  progressively  socialized  personality. — The  aim  of 
religious  education  can  be  stated  only  in  terms  of  socialized 
personality.  That  means  becoming  at  home  in  the  universe 
with  the  Father  God,  at  home  in  the  world  with  the  brother- 
man,  and  contributing  one's  best  to  the  ongoing  process. 
This  is  to  be  genetically  conceived.  At  every  stage  of  Hfe 
there  is  a  certain  normal  possibility  of  this  socialization.  It 
begins  with  the  babe's  relation  to  its  mother,  as  yet  unrealized, 
extends  through  the  naturally  enlarging  groups  of  home, 
companions,  school,  community,  and  finds  its  goal  in  the 
completely  socialized  spirit  of  Jesus.  A  true  religious  educa- 
tion would  always  seek  to  know  what  would  be  the  healthful 
and  significant  experience  in  this  socializing  process  at  any 
period  of  life,  and  would  strive  to  secure  such  limited  experi- 
ence, assured  that  so  the  best  advance  was  being  made 
toward  the  goal. 

Literature. — Coe,  in  his  Education  in  Religion  and  Morals  (Chicago: 
Revell,  1904),  has  presented  a  theory  of  religious  education  which  is 
at  once  social  and  genetic. 

5.      INSTITUTIONS   OF   RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION 

Dewey,  in  Moral  Principles  Underlying  Education,  has 
shown  that  the  definition  of  education  as  the  symmetrical 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  651 

development  of  all  the  powers  of  the  individual  is  defective 
because  each  of  the  terms  needs  to  be  defined.  The  individual 
does  not  develop  by  himself  but  always  in  relation  to  social 
situations.  Education  is  therefore  to  be  conceived  as  a 
social  process ;  moral-religious  education  particularly  so.  It  is 
in  the  creation  of  social  situations  conducive  to  ethical  and 
religious  development  that  the  process  of  such  education 
consists.  There  are  at  least  four  institutions  which  are  con- 
cerned with  this  task. 

The  home. — Altogether  the  most  important  religious 
institution  is  the  home.  In  the  early  years  of  childhood  are 
formed  the  dispositions,  prejudices,  and  attitudes  which  are 
so  largely  determinative  through  life.  The  home  is  able  to 
provide  a  natural  community  within  which  its  various  mem- 
bers shall  live  that  corporate  life  which  is  genuinely  social. 
Yet  the  home  is  for  the  most  part  little  conscious  of  its  responsi- 
bility and  even  of  the  real  nature  of  its  task. 

Literature. — Coe,  in  the  book  above  cited,  has  a  significant  discussion 
of  this  matter.  See  also  a  study  in  Religious  Education  in  the  American 
Home,  prepared  by  Votaw  for  the  Religious  Education  Association. 

The  problem  of  the  education  of  parents  is  one  that  must 
be  vigorously  faced.  After  the  wide  discussion  regarding  the 
teaching  of  sex  hygiene  in  the  schools,  many  educators  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  proper  method  is  to  teach 
the  parents  how  to  teach  their  children ;  and  the  principle  that 
is  made  so  evident  in  startling  fashion  in  this  subject  is  equally 
true  in  many  others.  The  most  progressive  churches  are 
seriously  undertaking  classes  for  parents  in  the  health  of 
childhood,  the  psychology  of  childhood,  the  problems  of  reli- 
gious and  moral  nurture. 

Literature. — A  good  book  in  this  field  is  St.  John,  Child  Nature  and 
Child  Nurture  (Boston:  Pilgrim  Press,  191 1). 

The  social  problems  of  the  modern  home  constitute  great 
difhculties.     Among  these  are  adequate  space  opportunities 


652        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

for  recreation,  the  scattering  of  the  family  in  various  pursuits, 
the  absence  of  definite  and  significant  tasks  for  children,  the 
increasing  independence  of  young  people,  the  decay  of  family 
worship. 

Literature. — A  very  satisfactory  treatment  of  the  various  phases  of 
the  subject  will  be  found  in  Cope,  Religious  Education  in  the  Family 
(Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  19 15). 

The  school. — -Historically  the  school  has  always  been 
regarded  as  an  institution  particularly  concerned  with  moral 
and  religious  education.  Its  close  relationship  with  the 
church,  which  existed  until  very  recently  in  America,  and 
which  still  continues  in  many  countries,  made  possible  a  cor- 
related religious  education  through  week  days  and  Sundays. 
The  complicated  process  by  which  this  has  become  impossible 
in  America  is  familiar,  and  it  is  quite  useless  as  well  as  unwise 
to  make  any  attempt  to  return  to  our  former  condition.  Our 
schools  are  inevitably  "secularized";  that  is  to  say,  they 
cannot  give  specifically  religious  instruction,  nor  can  they 
make  use  of  the  Bible,  even  to  the  extent  of  reading  limited 
portions  of  it. 

However,  the  real  responsibility  of  the  school  for  moral 
training  is  only  obscured  by  a  discussion  of  the  permissibility 
of  the  use  of  the  Bible  by  the  teacher.  Our  definition  of 
religious  education  indicates  the  direction  in  which  the  school 
must  function  in  the  development  of  the  child.  If  the  studies 
are  so  organized  as  to  permit  an  enlargement  and  enrichment 
of  the  social  experience,  if  the  school  is  a  community  where 
the  social  life  of  teacher  and  pupils  and  of  children  together 
is  so  carried  on  that  actual  social  values  are  realized,  then  the 
school  is  serving  most  effectively  as  an  institution  of  moral 
education. 

Literature. — This  subject  has  been  much  discussed  in  the  proceedings 
of  the  National  Education  Association  and  of  the  Religious  Education 
Association.  There  is  a  valuable  series  of  essays  by  Rugh  et  al.  on 
"The  Essential  Place  of  Religion  in  Education"  (Ann  Arbor:  National 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  653 

Education  Association,  1916).  Dewey  has  considered  the  social  value 
of  the  curriculum  in  The  School  and  Society  (Chicago:  The  University  of 
Chicago  Press,  1899),  and  Irving  King  has  brought  together  a  series  of 
significant  papers  in  Social  Aspects  oj  Education  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
191 2).    The  bibliographies  in  this  latter  work  are  especially  valuable. 

The  church. — The  one  institution  whose  sole  and  specific 
aim  is  religious  education  is  the  church.  All  its  organization, 
worship,  instruction,  social  life,  and  altruistic  developments 
are  properly  directed  toward  the  development  of  the  moral- 
religious  values  in  its  membership,  and  in  those  to  whom  its 
members  may  minister.  And  the  church  is  strong  in  pro- 
portion as  it  recognizes  its  educational  purpose  and  its  social 
responsibility. 

This  function  of  the  church  may  be  obscured  under  any  of 
the  following  conditions:  {a)  when  the  church  exists  as  a 
rehgious  institution,  separate  in  thought  and  interests  from 
the  great  world  of  modern  life;  {h)  when  the  idea  obtains  that 
the  principal  business  of  the  church  is  to  get  people  converted 
or  committed  to  the  Christian  hfe,  as  if  anything  significant 
were  accomplished  by  this  one  moment  of  decision;  {c)  when 
the  traditional  routine  of  church  life  goes  on  without  any 
careful  study  of  the  educational  character  of  its  various 
activities  and  their  possible  modification  or  improvement; 
(d)  when  the  necessity  for  financial  self-maintenance  absorbs 
the  energies  of  its  members,  with  the  consequent  temptation 
to  resort  to  catch-penny,  and  therefore  non-educational, 
means  of  raising  money;  {e)  when  the  altruistic  motives  lead 
the  members  to  sporadic  and  unconsidered  charities  without 
the  establishment  of  genuine  social  relations. 

Literature. — Faunce  discusses  many  of  these  problems  most  help- 
fully in  The  Educational  Ideal  in  the  Ministry  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
1908). 

The  church  has  some  serious  handicaps  in  its  task: 
(a)  While  it  has  a  superlative  opportunity  in  the  fact  that 
Sunday  morning  is  still  practically  its  own,  yet  even  this 


654        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

great  section  of  t  ime  is  quite  insufficient  for  adequate  educa- 
tion, (b)  In  spite  of  the  fact,  in  which  the  church  has  gloried, 
that  the  last  century  has  been  conspicuous  for  the  magnitude 
of  its  lay  service,  it  is  becoming  increasingly  evident  that 
this  service  is  lamentably  incompetent.  A  trained  lay 
leadership  is  a  present  problem  of  great  moment,  (c)  The 
church  has  traditions  of  a  noble  architecture  which,  however, 
was  designed  originally  for  the  spectators  of  a  dramatic 
pageant,  and  then  was  modified  to  suit  the  needs  of  the 
audience  of  a  popular  oration,  and  now  must  be  adapted  to 
the  demands  of  a  complicated  educational  institution.  Few 
churches  have  the  equipment  that  is  necessary  for  the  educa- 
tional task. 

Literature. — Evans  has  discussed  this  problem  very  practically  in 
The  Sunday-School  Building  and  Its  Equipment  (Chicago :  The  University 
of  Chicago  Press,  1914). 

Some  interesting  experiments  are  being  made  in  the  direc- 
tion of  enlarging  religious  education  by  co-operation  between 
the  church  and  the  public  school.  In  North  Dakota  high- 
school  students  may  receive  credit  for  Bible-study  carried  on 
in  the  Sunday  school,  examinations  on  the  subject  being  set 
by  the  state  authorities.  A  similar  plan  is  in  operation  in 
Colorado  and  elsewhere.  In  the  almost  revolutionary  plans 
of  the  schools  of  Gary,  Indiana,  the  superintendent  has  offered 
to  the  churches  any  opportunities  that  they  desire  to  take  the 
children  during  school  hours  for  study  in  the  church  buildings. 
Several  denominations  have  put  educational  directors  into  that 
community  to  work  out  such  plans  of  religious  education. 
The  results  will  depend  largely  upon  the  possibility  of  training 
religious  teachers. 

The  community. — We  are  just  beginning  to  realize  that 
the  community  is  a  social  institution  with  high  educational 
value.  Chicago's  establishment  of  field  houses  is  notable. 
The   large   educational   values   that  arise   out   of  properly 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  655 

organized  play  must  be  recognized,  not  only  by  the  church  and 
Christian  associations,  but  by  the  municipalities  and  the 
rural  communities,  for  the  life  of  a  people  will  never  rise 
above  the  level  of  the  moral  quality  of  its  amusements.  When 
boys  or  girls  run  the  streets,  form  gangs,  and  patronize 
harmful  amusements,  they  are  being  educated  downward  by 
the  community. 

Literature. — ^Jane  Addams  has  discussed  this  problem  in  The  Spirit 
oj  Youth  and  the  City  Streets  (New  York:  Macmillan,  19 10).  The  ques- 
tion is  to  the  fore  whether  the  community  has  not  a  distinctly  positive 
educational  responsibility  beyond  the  mere  provision  of  intellectual 
training.  The  Wider  Use  oj  the  School  Plant  by  Perry  (New  York: 
Charities  Publication  Committee,  191 1)  is  a  discussion  of  certain  phases 
of  this  responsibility. 

It  is  important  that  the  church  should  foster  this  move- 
ment and  direct  it  rather  than  feel  jealous  of  its  influences. 
The  church  gains  in  its  very  loss  whenever  it  inspires  the 
people  as  a  whole  to  take  upon  themselves  some  new  educa- 
tional function. 

Literature. — Social  Aspects  of  Education  by  Irving  King  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  191 2)  may  again  be  referred  to,  especially  chap,  vii, 
"Playground  Extension,"  and  the  bibliography  at  the  close  of  the 
chapter. 

The  correlation  of  educational  activities. — The  aroused 
sense  of  educational  responsibihty  has  resulted  in  the  some- 
what feverish  anxiety  of  various  institutions  to  equip  them- 
selves for  the  task  without  having  any  very  clear  idea  of  the 
division  of  the  responsibility.  As  soon  as  we  can  see  the 
possibilities  a  little  more  clearly,  there  will  need  to  be  some 
better  definition  of  the  functions  of  the  various  educational 
institutions  than  has  yet  been  made,  and  some  satisfactory 
correlation  of  their  efforts.  It  may  be  possible  to  do  this 
through  the  Religious  Education  Association,  in  whose  journal 
these  problems  are  constantly  discussed. 


656        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

6.      THE    ORGANIZATION   OF   RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION 

Developments  in  the  church. — The  acceptance  of  the 
Sunday  school  by  the  church  in  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century  was  the  first  educational  development  beyond  the 
pastoral  oversight  of  the  young.  This  was  followed  by  the 
establishment  of  many  societies  of  young  men  and  women  for 
self-culture,  culminating  in  the  formation  of  the  Young 
People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor.  This,  with  its  related 
denominational  organizations,  was  properly  intended  for 
young  people  of  about  feighteen  to  twenty-five  years  of  age. 
Unfortunately  junior  societies  were  formed  for  children  and 
intermediate  societies  for  boys  and  girls,  each  conducting 
prayer  and  testimony  meetings  in  imitation  of  their  elders. 
A  much  healthier  development  was  the  Knights  of  King 
Arthur  for  boys,  the  Queens  of  Avalon  for  >girls,  and  other 
similar  institutions  founded  on  the  modernized  ideals  of 
chivalry.  The  latest,  and  in  many  respects  most  satisfactory 
of  all,  are  the  Boy  Scouts  and  the  Campfire  Girls.  Besides 
these  better-known  organizations  there  are  a  host  of  clubs, 
recreational,  dramatic,  musical,  together  with  choir  organiza- 
tions, mission-study  circles,  etc.  Within  the  Sunday  school 
itself  have  come  the  organized  classes,  such  as  Baracas  and 
Philatheas,  which  are  essentially  clubs  with  various  recrea- 
tional and  other  activities. 

Correlation  of  educational  agencies  in  the  local  church. — 
A  very  serious  problem  is  the  adjustment  of  these  various 
organizations  to  one  another  and  to  the  church  life  as  a 
whole.  Many  of  the  interesting  activities  which  formerly 
belonged  to  the  Sunday  school  have  been  taken  over  by  these 
specialized  organizations,  so  that  it  may  easily  come  to  pass 
that  the  Sunday  school  will  be  merely  a  teaching  institution, 
all  the  social  activities  being  otherwise  conducted.  The 
attempts  that  have  been  made  to  conserve  the  significance  of 
the  biblical  instruction  by  requiring  a  certain  minimum  of 
attendance  in  Sunday  school  for  eligibility  for  the  more  inter- 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  657 

esting  activities  are  not  likely  to  enhance  the  intrinsic  value 
of  the  instruction.  Evidently  there  is  needed  such  a  corre- 
lation of  these  good  activities  that  there  shall  be  no  gaps, 
no  overlapping,  no  useless  organizations,  no  undue  demand 
upon  individuals  either  as  leaders  or  as  members,  while  the 
educational  idea  shall  be  dominant.  The  Sunday  school  would 
seem  to  be  the  basal  organization  which  can  be  enlarged  and 
developed  to  include  all  others. 

Literature. — The  details  of  such  a  solution  of  the  problem  are  pre- 
sented in  the  report  of  a  commission  on  the  subject  in  Religious  Educa- 
tion for  April,  191 2,  and  have  since  been  worked  out  by  Athearn  in 
The  Church  School  (Boston:    Pilgrim  Press,  19 14). 

Community  organizations  of  religious  education. — The 
local  denominational  church  is  seldom  competent  to  care  for  all 
the  educational  interests  of  its  own  people;  and  when  a 
vigorous  church  is  able  to  do  so,  this  is  frequently  done  at  the 
cost  of  others  who  are  unable  to  compete.  It  is  becoming 
increasingly  evident  that  many  educational  activities  should 
be  carried  on  by  the  whole  Christian  community  rather  than 
by  the  individual  church.  The  Christian  associations  often 
serve  as  such  co-operating  agencies.  The  city  institute  for 
teacher-training  which  has  been  developed  in  many  places, 
most  notably  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  is  a  significant  effort  in 
this  direction.  Athearn  has  described  this  and  discussed  the 
principles  involved  in  The  City  Institute  for  Religious  Teachers 
(Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1915).  The 
question  has  indeed  arisen  whether  we  may  not  in  the  near 
future  need  a  city  superintendent  of  religious  education  who 
would  be  an  officer  of  experience  and  dignity  comparable  to 
the  superintendent  of  schools. 

7.      MATERIALS   OF   RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION 

The  criteria  of  religious  material. — When  Christian  faith 
is  defined  in  intellectualistic  terms,  religious  material  does 
not  extend  much  beyond  the  Bible,  Christian  doctrine,  and  the 


658        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

elements  of  worship.  But  when  religion  is  thought  of  as  pro- 
gressive socialization,  everything  that  tends  to  enrich  social 
experience  has  moral-religious  value.  There  is  a  sense  in 
which  every  sound  discipline  would  mediate  such  enrichment. 
It  is  the  same  sense  in  which  we  speak  of  all  life  as  religious. 
However,  it  would  be  more  helpful  to  confine  the  term  "reli- 
gious" or  "ethical"  or  "social"  to  such  material  as  has  some 
special  wealth  in  the  particular  direction. 

Literature. — Pease,  An  Outline  of  a  Bible-School  Curriculum  (Chicago: 
The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1906),  and  Haslett,  the  Pedagogical 
Bible  School,  Part  III  (Chicago:  Revell,  1903),  discuss  the  religious  and 
moral  values  of  a  wide  range  of  material. 

The  value  of  the  Bible. — All  that  has  been  written  regarding 
the  Bible  as  Hterature  of  power,  as  the  inspirational  record  of 
religious  experience,  applies  at  this  point,  with  a  further  pro- 
vision that  its  value  must  be  estimated  with  reference  to  the 
developing  experience  of  the  growing  individual.  Its  wide 
range  of  literature  contains  material  adapted  to  the  interest 
and  experience  of  every  age  of  life.  The  Bible  can  no  longer 
be  the  one  material  of  religious  instruction.  We  do  not  need 
a  "Bible"  school.  But  there  is  no  danger  that  the  Bible  will 
lose  its  unique  significance.  Its  intrinsic  worth,  the  hallowed 
associations  of  the  centuries,  and  its  integral  place  in  our 
literature  and  thought  make  the  Bible  religious  material 
of  first  value. 

Literature. — The  writer  has  discussed  the  literary  value  of  the  Bible 
in  detail  in  an  article  on  "  Types  of  Literature  in  the  Bible  "  in  The  Ency- 
clopedia of  Sunday  Schools  and  Religious  Education,  and  an  excellent 
treatment  of  the  subject  is  Raymont's  The  Use  of  the  Bible  in  the  Edu- 
cation of  the  Young  (New  York:   Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  191 1). 

Direct  moral  and  religious  instruction. — When  any 
material  embodies  the  idea  that  is  to  be  taught  without  spe- 
cifically expressing  it,  the  moral  instruction  is  indirect.  Can 
such  instruction  be  given  directly?  Of  course  the  most 
effective  instruction  is  connected  with  the  actual  occurrence 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  659 

of  moral  crises,  as  when  the  telhng  of  a  He  gives  opportunity 
to  discuss  the  social  significance  of  lying,  or  when  the  sense  of  a 
need  of  God  leads  to  instruction  in  prayer.  A  more  difficult 
question  is  whether  vital  moral  discussion  can  be  aroused 
apart  from  the  occurrence  of  the  moral  crisis.  The  futility 
of  a  vast  amount  of  exhortation  to  be  good  is,  of  course, 
evident. 

Literature. — Some  systems  devised  for  teaching  a  catalogue  of  virtues 
were  well  criticized  by  Coe,  in  an  address  before  the  National  Education 
Association, on  "Virtue  and  the  Virtues, "published  in  Religious  Education, 
January,  1912.  But  practical  ethics  may  be  taught  with  tact  and  skill. 
Jenks,  Life  Questions  of  High  School  Boys  (New  York:  Y.M.C.A.  Press, 
1908),  and  Johnson,  The  Problems  of  Boyhood  (Chicago:  The  University 
of  Chicago  Press,  1914),  are  able  texts  for  the  purpose.  There  is  need  of 
similar  books  for  girls. 

8.      METHODS    OF   RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION 

Religious  pedagogy. — When  the  problem  of  adequate 
religious  material  has  been  solved  and  this  material  has  been 
organized  into  a  graded  system,  there  arises  the  problem  of 
pedagogy.  The  same  objection  may  be  made  to  the  term  "reli- 
gious pedagogy"  as  to  "  religious  education."  Of  course  there 
are  no  distinct  pedagogical  principles  that  belong  to  religion. 
Any  satisfactory  system  of  education  seeks  to  secure  from  any 
material  of  instruction  the  fitting  results  in  social  efficiency; 
yet  because  the  religious  reactions  are  so  subtle  and  because  so 
much  mistake  has  been  made  in  seeking  to  get  adult  reactions 
from  immature  persons,  it  is  particularly  important  that  the 
principles  of  teaching  should  be  carefully  studied  with  refer- 
ence to  their  religious  and  moral  implications. 

Literature. — A  first-class  book  in  this  field  still  remains  to  be  written. 
Meantime,  James,  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psyclwlogy  (New  York:  Henry 
Holt  &  Co.,  1908),  is  invaluable.  McMurry,  The  Method  of  the  Recita- 
tion (New  York:  Macmillan,  1906),  is  an  excellent  presentation  of  the 
Herbartian  pedagogy,  and  Dewey,  How  We  Think  (Boston:  D.  C. 
Heath  &  Co.,  1910),  is  fundamental.    Weigel  has  done  an  admirable 


66o        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

popular  piece  of  work  in  The  Pupil  and  the  Teacher  (New  York:  George 
H.  Doran  &  Co.,  1911).  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  a  few  years  ago  the 
various  denominational  houses  hastily  prepared  a  number  of  teacher- 
training  books,  and  have  thus  occupied  the  field  very  inadequately. 
This  situation  is  now  being  gradually  corrected  with  some  better  texts. 

The  education  of  religious  feeling. — Feeling  is  fundamental 
in  religion  and  affords  impulse  to  conduct.  A  full  discussion 
of  this  subject  would  involve  a  consideration  of  worship  as  a 
phase  of  the  psychology  of  religion.  Of  course  personal 
religion  in  the  leaders  of  the  church,  and  simplicity  and 
sincerity  in  the  conduct  of  religious  exercises,  are  essential  to 
the  cultivation  of  fine  religious  feeling.  Yet  the  adequate 
stimulation  of  such  feeling  in  younger  or  older  people,  or  in 
groups  of  various. ages,  by  means  of  the  various  liturgical 
elements  as  well  as  by  spontaneous  exercises,  is  scientifically 
a  psychological  problem,  and  practically  a  problem  of  tech- 
nique. 

Literature. — Some  excellent  results  which  have  been  achieved  in  the 
Union  School  of  Religion  are  discussed  by  Hartshorne  in  Worship  in  the 
Sunday  School  (New  York:  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University, 
1913).  A  volume  upon  The  Children  in  Worship  by  Boocock  is  also  in  the 
series  of  the  University  of  Chicago  Press. 

Expressional  activities. — Religion  has  not  been  taught 
when  religious  ideas  have  been  imparted,  nor  when  religious 
feeling  has  been  stirred,  but  only  when  religious  conduct 
has  resulted.  The  church  is  not  so  well  equipped  for  this 
experimental  task  as  for  the  intellectual  and  emotional  phases 
of  its  work.  Indeed,  about  the  only  opportunity  that  it 
has  furnished  its  members  for  the  active  expression  of  religion 
has  been,  for  the  few,  in  carrying  on  its  own  life,  including  its 
educational  work,  and  for  the  many,  both  old  and  young,  in 
the  giving  of  money.  And  this  latter  activity,  with  its 
extraordinary  educational  possibilities,  has  been  for  the 
most  part  sadly  uneducational.  The  church  has  been  so 
busy  in  getting  the  money  for  local  and  philanthropic  and 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  66l 

missionary  needs  that  it  has  given  little  attention  to  the  educa- 
tion of  people  in  the  giving  of  money.  This  again  is  a  prob- 
lem of  graded  education,  having  regard  to  the  developing 
experience  of  children  and  young  people.  Beyond  the  giving 
of  money  there  is  the  great  field  of  the  giving  of  service,  and 
this  in  such  a  way  as  to  establish  genuine  social  relations  with 
the  persons  served.  Here  is  a  very  fine  problem  in  practical 
social  psychology  which  needs  much  more  careful  study 
than  it  has  received.  * 

Literature. — Hutchins  has  dealt  with  the  whole  matter  in  Graded 
Social  Service  for  the  Sunday  School  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago 
Press,  191 5). 

9.      SPECIAL   PROBLEMS 

The  problems  of  religious  education  beyond  those  involved 
in  the  various  phases  of  the  subject  already  discussed  are 
intimately  connected  with  the  problems  of  the  psychology  of 
religion.  Indeed  they  are  often  largely  the  educational  aspects 
of  these  latter  problems. 

Very  fundamental  is  the  question  whether  anything  like  an 
experimental  approach  to  these  problems  is  possible.  Can 
we  devise  a  technique  by  means  of  which  we  can  measure 
the  results  of  our  educational  experiment  in  religion  and 
morals  ? 

Literature. — In  a  paper,  "Securing  First-Hand  Data  as  to  the  Reli- 
gious Development  of  Children,"  in  Religious  Education,  October,  191 5, 
Hartshorne  argues  for  the  practicability  of  such  investigation. 

Some  of  the  most  pressing  problems  to  be  studied  are  the 
following:  (i)  efficient  religious  education  for  the  various 
stages  of  the  developing  life,  young  child,  older  child,  boy, 
girl,  young  man,  young  woman,  adult;  (2)  the  place  of  the 
intellectual,  the  affective,  and  the  conduct  elements  in  reli- 
gious development ;  (3)  the  development  of  moral  and  religious 
life  in  connection  with  the  growth  of  sex-consciousness;  (4)  the 
relation  of  religion  and  play;  (5)  the  preparation  of  the  child 
for  church  membership. 


662         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Literature. — The  Proceedings  of  the  Religious  Education  Association 
(322  South  Michigan  Avenue,  Chicago)  and  its  magazine,  Religious 
Education,  contain  the  most  significant  material  in  this  field.  The 
Association  publishes  numerous  pamphlets,  one  of  the  most  important  of 
which  is  Graded  Textbooks  for  the  Modern  Sunday  School  (free).  The 
student  of  religious  education  will  do  well  to  read  representative  works 
in  general  education.  *Thorndike,  Education  (New  York:  MacmiUan, 
1912),  will  be  a  good  introduction.  The  Original  Nature  of  Man  (New 
York:  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  1913),  by  the  same 
author,  is  suggested  because  of  its  thorough  discussion  of  instinct  as  basal 
for  all  education.  While  the  work  is  somewhat  technical,  the  religious 
educator  will  find  it  valuable  as  giving  him  the  standpoint  from  which 
to  estimate  educational  theory  and  practice.  G.  Stanley  Hall,  Adoles- 
cence, 2  vols.  (New  York:  Appleton,  1904),  was  one  of  the  first  books  to 
call  attention  to  the  characteristics  of  youth  life.  It  is  extreme,  laying 
great  emphasis  on  the  theory  of  recapitulation,  but  is  eminently  sug- 
gestive. Youth,  Its  Education,  Regimen,  and  Hygiene  (New  York: 
Appleton,  191 2),  is  a  shorter  work,  giving  Hall's  position  more  succinctly. 
*Irving  King,  The  Psychology  of  Child  Development  (Chicago:  The 
University  of  Chicago  Press,  1903),  and  The  High  School  Age  (Indian- 
apolis: Bobbs  Merrill,  1914),  are  two  volumes  covering  the  field  of 
genetic  psychology,  giving  a  very  satisfactory  treatment  of  the  child  and 
youth.  See  also  Kirkpatrick,  Fundamentals  of  Child  Study  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1903).  The  whole  literature  of  child-study  is  germane. 
This  clear  and  interesting  treatise  may  be  taken  as  representative. 
*Coe,  Education  in  Religion  and  Morals  (New  York:  Revell,  1904),  was 
one  of  the  early  books  on  the  principles  of  religious  education,  and  is  still 
one  of  the  best.  Haslett,  The  Pedagogical  Bible  School  (New  York: 
Revell,  1903),  is  a  briefer  presentation  of  G.  Stanley  Hall's  position  on 
child  development  in  its  various  stages  and  an  excellent  outline  of  a 
curriculum  adapted  to  those  stages.  Pease,  Ati  Outline  of  a  Bible- 
School  Curriculum  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1906), 
was  one  of  the  first  efforts  to  set  forth  the  principles  of  graded  lessons  in 
religious  education.  It  is  still  very  valuable.  Burton  and  Mathews, 
Principles  and  Ideals  for  the  Sunday  School  (Chicago :  The  University  of 
Chicago  Press,  1903),  presents  a  discussion  of  school  organization  and  of 
pedagogical  method.  It  is  especially  valuable  for  the  latter  and  is 
commended  to  the  teacher.  *Athearn,  The  Church  School  (Boston: 
Pilgrim  Press,  1914),  is  the  best  presentation  of  the  organization  of  the 
Sunday  school  and  related  organizations.  The  bibliography  is  full  and 
valuable.     There  is  no  better  book  than  *Cope,  The  Modern  Sunday 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  663 

School  in  Principle  and  Practice  (New  York:  Revell,  1907),  to  introduce 
the  new  ideal  into  the  Sunday  school.  His  Efficiency  in  the  Sunday 
School  (New  York:  George  H.  Doran  &  Co.,  1912)  is  a  discussion  of 
specific  factors  making  for  efficiency,  and  is  excellent.  Hartshorne, 
Worship  in  the  Sunday  School  (New  York :  Teachers  College,  Columbia 
University,  1913),  is  a  popular  treatment  of  the  psychology  of  liturgy 
and  a  presentation  of  the  worship  values  and  opportunities  as  worked 
out  in  the  Union  School  of  Religion.  Cope,  The  Evolution  of  the  Sunday 
School  (Boston:  Pilgrim  Press,  191 1),  is  a  concise  and  accurate  treat- 
ment of  the  history  of  religious  education.  Brown,  Sunday  School 
Movements  in  America  (New  York:  Revell,  1901),  is  an  excellent  history. 
Hoben,  The  Minister  and  the  Boy  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago 
Press,  191 2),  is  a  fascinating  presentation  of  the  possibilities  of  the 
pastor's  relation  to  the  boys  of  his  parish.  *Hutchins,  Graded  Social 
Service  for  the  Sunday  School  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago 
Press,  1914),  gives  a  discussion  of  the  principles  involved  in  social  con- 
tributions of  children,  and  a  presentation  of  practical  plans  from  the 
kindergarten  to  the  adult  grades.  *Evans,  The  Sunday-School  Building 
and  Its  Equipment  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1914),  is 
the  best  presentation  of  the  modern  educational  needs  in  the  matter 
of  equipment.  Churches  undertaking  new  buildings  or  seeking  to 
remodel  old  ones  should  consult  this  work.  Athearn,  The  City  Institute 
for  Religious  Leaders  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  19 15), 
presents  a  practical  plan  for  community  teacher  training.  Wardle, 
Handwork  in  Religious  Education  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago 
Press,  1916)  treats  the  science  and  practice  of  expressional  activity. 
Herbert  W.  Gates,  The  Church  and  Recreation  (Chicago:  The  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago  Press,  in  press,  1916).  Cope,  Religious  Education 
in  the  Family  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  191 5),  is  a 
most  helpful  and  practical  treatment  of  this  important  subject.  The 
Encyclopedia'  of  Sunday  Schools  and  Religious  Education  (New  York: 
Nelson,  191 5)  contains  many  valuable  articles.  The  literature  under 
"The  Psychology  of  Religion"  should  also  be  consulted. 

VIII.      THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RELIGION 

I.      THE   RELATION    OF   THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RELIGION   TO 
PRACTICAL   THEOLOGY 

Practical  theology  is  concerned  with  the  principles  and 
methods  by  which  rehgious  life  and  work  are  developed, 
especially  through  the  institution  of  the  church.     But  religion 


664        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

is  a  human  experience.  It  is  a  phase  of  human  consciousness. 
Its  principles  and  methods  cannot  be  discussed  without  con- 
stant reference  to  psychological  considerations.  Our  study 
of  the  sermon,  evangelism,  pastoral  care,  hymnology,  and 
liturgies  has  again  and  again  required  reference  to  the  psy- 
chology of  religious  experience.  And  the  subject  of  religious 
education  goes  necessarily  hand  in  hand  with  this  science. 

In  the  university  the  subject  of  the  psychology  of  religion 
is  naturally  organized  in  the  department  of  philosophy  or  of 
psychology.  In  the  divinity  school  it  may  come  to  have  an 
independent  status,  although  there  is  not  as  yet  any  seminary 
with  a  chair  so  named.  The  intimate  relation  between  the  two 
fields  of  work  has  in  more  than  one  case  put  the  psychology 
of  religion  with  practical  theology.  Without  laying  undue 
emphasis  upon  this  relation  a  brief  treatment  of  the  subject 
may  be  appropriate  here. 

2.      THE  mSTORY    OF   THE   SCIENCE 

This  branch  of  study  strictly  considered  is  of  very  recent 
origin.  Some  articles  in  the  American  Joiunal  of  Psychology 
were  early  essays  in  this  field.  Such  were  Daniels,  "The 
New  Life:  A  Study  in  Regeneration,"  VI  (1895),  61-103; 
Leuba,  "Studies  in  the  Psychology  of  Religious  Phenomena," 
VII  (1896),  309-85.  In  1899  appeared  Starbuck's  more 
comprehensive  and  elaborate  work.  The  Psychology  of  Religion 
(New  York :  Scribner,  1899) .  This  was  mainly  a  study  of  the 
phenomena  of  conversion  by  means  of  the  questionnaire. 
While  it  had  of  necessity  the  uncertainties  involved  in  that 
method  of  investigation,  it  had  an  important  part  in  awaken- 
ing an  interest  in  the  possibilities  of  a  critical  study  of  religious 
experience.  The  following  year  appeared  The  Spiritual  Life 
by  Coe  (New  York:  Revell,  1900).  This  book,  though  not 
based  on  numerous  cases,  discussed  more  critically  and  thor- 
oughly the  principles  of  conversion  and  of  religious  feeling, 
reaching  conclusions  very  similar  to  those  of  Starbuck.     In 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  665 

the  same  year  in  England  Granger  published  The  Soul  oj 
the  Christian  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1900),  a  theoretical  psy- 
chological study  of  conversion,  visions  and  voices,  love,  ritual, 
prophecy,  and  theology.  There  followed  in  1902  the  really 
great  and  ingenious  Gifford  Lectures  by  Wilham  James,  on 
Varieties  of  Religious  Experience  (New  York:  Longmans, 
Green,  &  Co.,  1902).  Unlike  his  predecessors,  James  based 
his  investigation  on  the  biographies  of  many  noted  religious 
persons  of  the  past,  endeavoring  from  the  standpoint  of 
psychology  to  interpret  those  experiences  that  had  been  so 
often  regarded  as  unique  and  inexplicable.  James  made  much 
use  of  the  theory  of  the  subconscious,  which  has  since  been 
seriously  questioned.  In  1905  Davenport  made  a  valuable 
contribution  in  Primitive  Traits  in  Religious  Revivals  (New 
York:  Macmillan,  1905),  a  keen  study  of  those  phen  mena 
from  the  social  as  well  as  the  psychological  point  of  view. 
G.  Stanley  Hall,  who  had  made  wide  investigations  by  the 
questionnaire  method,  founded  in  1904  the  Journal  of  Religious 
Psychology  and  Education  (since  191 2  the  Journal  of  Reli- 
gious Psychology)  and  has  printed  numerous  essays  in  this 
field.  The  short-lived  Zeitschrift  fiir  Religions  psychologic , 
published  by  J.  Bresler  at  Halle,  should  also  be  noted.  The 
work  of  Murisier  in  France  on  the  pathological  phases  of 
religious  experience,  of  Delacroix  and  others  on  mysticism, 
of  Flournoy  on  the  psychology  of  inspiration,  of  Henri  Bois  on 
religious  feeling,  and  of  Frommel  on  conversion  made  con- 
tributions to  the  science.  Harold  Begbie's  practical  observa- 
tions of  remarkable  cases  of  conversion  which  he  has  given 
us  in  Twice  Born  Men  (New  York:  Revell,  1909),  Other 
Sheep  (New  York:  George  H.  Doran  &  Co.,  1912)?  Souls  in 
Action  (New  York:  George  H.  Doran  &  Co.,  191 1),  etc.,  are 
important  data  for  the  psychologist.  Pratt's  Psychology 
of  Religious  Belief  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1905)  was  an 
attempt  to  explain  scientifically  the  belief  attitude.  Ames's 
Psychology  of  Religious  Experience  (Boston :   Houghton  Mifflin 


666        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Co.,  1910)  is  the  best  statement  of  the  social  theory  of  the 
development  of  religion,  while  Stratton  has  criticized  this 
view  in  The  PsycJwlogy  of  the  Religious  Life  (London:  Allen, 
1911). 

In  Germany  the  work  in  the  psychology  of  religion  has  not 
been  clearly  differentiated  from  that  in  the  history  of  religion 
and  in  the  philosophy  of  religion.  Elemente  der  Volker- 
/?^;ycAo/o^^e,byW.M.Wundt (Leipzig:  Kroner,  1900-),  belongs 
rather  to  the  former  science,  and  Die  religions psychologische 
Methode  in  Religionswissenschaft  und  Theologie  (Leipzig: 
Hinrichs,  1913),  by  Georg  Wobbermin,  belongs  to  the  latter. 

The  number  of  workers  in  the  field  of  psychology  of 
religion  is  rapidly  increasing,  and  in  the  last  few  years  a  large 
amount  of  material  has  appeared  in  the  form  of  articles  in 
scientific  journals  as  well  as  in  books. 

3.      DEFINITION   AND    SCOPE 

In  distinction  from  metaphysics. — The  psychology  of  reli- 
gion does  not  concern  itself  with  the  objective  truth  of  religious 
beliefs.  "  It  has  nothing  to  do  with  ontology.  It  is  not  con- 
cerned to  estabhsh  the  objective  validity  of  any  faith  or  rite, 
or  even  of  rehgion  itself.  These  considerations  belong  to 
theology  proper  or  to  metaphysics.  Religion  as  we  actually 
find  it  is  a  part  of  human  experience.  Beliefs,  feelings, 
activities  of  religion,  just  because  they  appear  as  states  of 
consciousness,  lend  themselves  to  scientific  observation,  classi- 
fication, and  explanation. 

Pratt  gives  the  following  description  of  the  task  of  the 
rehgious  psychologist: 

Having  collected  his  facts,  the  psychologist  will  proceed  as  other 
scientists  proceed  with  their  data.  That  is  to  say,  he  will  group  his 
facts  and  note  the  general  relations  between  them,  thus  seeking  a  sys- 
tematic and  general  description  of  the  various  facts  in  the  religious 
consciousness.  Whenever  possible,  he  will  "explain"  these  facts  by 
subsuming  them  under  the  laws  of  general  psychology,  that  is  to  say, 
he  will  proceed  on  the  assumption  that,  for  the  purposes  of  science,  reli- 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  667 

gious  facts  are  not  different  in  kind  from  other  psychic  facts.  Thus  he 
wUl  seek  to  build  up  a  scientific  view  of  the  religious  life,  interpreting  and 
explaining  it  by  itself  and  by  the  known  facts  and  laws  of  the  human 
mind ' 

Irving  King  makes  the  important  suggestion  that  in  the 
psychology  of  religion  one  must  not  take  for  granted  the  con- 
cepts of  religionists  and  use  them  on  the  same  level  with 
psychological  terms. 

Relation  to  the  history  of  religion. — Leuba  distinguishes  the 
psychology  of  religion  from  the  history  of  religion  on  the 
ground  that  the  former  deals  with  the  contents  of  conscious- 
ness, impulses,  desires,  representations,  ideas,  volitions; 
whereas  the  latter  finds  its  data  in  the  deeds  of  men  and  chiefly 
in  the  social  resultants  of  the  activities  of  individuals.  The 
two,  however,  are  very  intimately  related. 

Literature. — Irving  King's  Development  of  Religion  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1910)  goes  into  the  field  of  psychology,  and  many  books  on 
the  psychology  of  religion  derive  much  of  their  material  from  the  study  of 
historic  religions,  and  particularly  of  the  religions  of  primitive  peoples, 
e.g.,  that  of  the  Australian  tribes  as  known  from  the  researches  made 
by  Spencer  and  Gillen. 

Phylogenetic  and  ontogenetic  problems. — Many  of  the 
problems  of  the  psychology  of  religion  are  anthropological, 
such  as  the  origin  of  religion  in  the  race,  the  rise  of  religious 
rites  and  ceremonies,  the  forms  of  beliefs,  superstitions,  etc.; 
and  even  those  that  seem  definitely  individual,  such  as  the  rise 
of  religious  consciousness,  the  stages  of  religious  development, 
the  place  of  feeling,  will,  and  ideas  in  religious  consciousness, 
and  such  phenomena  as  conversion,  sanctification,  prayer, 
faith,  revivals,  worship,  inspiration,  prophecy,  mysticism,  all 
run  back  to  anthropological  considerations.  While,  however, 
this  intimate  relationship  exists,  the  problems  that  are  dis- 
tinctly psychological  are  those  which  concern  the  religious 
consciousness  as  we  know  it. 

'  "The  Psychology  of  Religion,"  Journal  of  Religious  Psychology,  V,  386. 


668        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

4.      METHODS 

A  consideration  of  the  means  by  which  the  psychology  of 
rehgton  accumulates  its  facts  is  of  prime  importance,  as  upon 
this  its  validity  depends.  Four  methods  may  be  distin- 
guished as  having  been  employed  by  investigators. 

The  introspective  method. — This  is  the  ordinary  method 
in  the  science  of  mental  life  in  general,  which  religious  psy- 
chology may  properly  make  use  of.  It  may  indeed  be 
questioned  whether  a  man  to  whom  the  religious  experience 
is  personally  foreign,  if  such  there  be,  is  capable  of  making  a 
proper  estimate  of  the  phenomena  of  religious  consciousness. 
The  best  example  of  this  method  is  Granger,  The  Soul  of 
a  Christian. 

The  biographical  method. — This  includes  studies  of  bi- 
ographies, autobiographies,  letters,  and  other  spontaneous 
expressions  of  rehgious  persons.  It  has  the  value,  of  course, 
of  widening  the  range  of  observation.  James  made  use  of  this 
method  in  his  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience. 

The  questionnaire  method. — This  consists  in  collecting 
answers  to  definite  questions  from  a  large  number  of  persons. 
Its  value  depends  upon  the  skill  with  which  the  questions  are 
framed  with  reference  to  securing  the  actual  facts,  the  range 
of  the  investigation,  the  willingness  and  ability  of  the  persons 
questioned  to  give  adequate  answers,  and  the  skill  of  the 
investigator  in  the  classification  and  interpretation  of  the 
answers.  Its  weakness  is  that  the  most  suggestible  persons 
usually  answer  the  questions,  that  there  is  no  means  of 
checking  the  accuracy  of  the  answers,  and  that  very  few 
persons  are  competent  to  give  information  regarding  their 
own  subjective  life.  An  illustration  of  this  method  is  Star- 
buck's  Psychology  of  Religion. 

The  comparative  or  objective  method. — The  study  of  the 
relatively  objective  experiences  of  social  religion  furnished  by 
history,  anthropology,  the  sacred  literature  of  various  peoples, 
furnishes  data  of  high  scientific  accuracy.     This  method  is 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  669 

employed  by  Irving  King  in  the  Development  of  Religion, 
and  largely  by  Ames  in  his  Psychology  of  Religious  Experience. 
Other  Available  Methods. — ^Besides  the  foregoing,  which 
have  commonly  been  employed,  there  are  other  possible 
methods  of  approaching  the  subject.  The  accurate  and 
continued  observation  of  a  few  individuals  in  their  religious 
development  should  yield  important  results.  The  statistical 
method  has  to  a  certain  extent  been  employed  by  all  writers 
on  the  subject,  but  there  is  a  large  field  before  it  in  the  study 
of  the  efficiency  of  the  directed  efiforts  toward  religious  develop- 
ment. How  far  the  methods  of  experimental  psychology 
may  be  available  is  open  to  question.  George  E.  Dawson 
has  reported  briefly  an  attempt  in  this  direction  in  the  Journal 
of  Religious  Psychology,  II  (19 13),  50-58). 

Literature. — Coe,  Psychology  of  Religion  (Chicago:  The  University 
of  Chicago  Press,  191 6),  has  an  illuminating  discussion  of  methodology. 

5.    PROBLEMS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

Definition  of  religion. — The  simple  question,  What  is 
religion  ?  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  baffling  to  answer 
scientifically.  The  philosophy  of  religion  has  long  been 
engaged  upon  a  definition  and  has  produced  about  a  hundred 
forms.  Wright  ("A  Psychological  Definition  of  ReHgion," 
American  Journal  of  Theology,  XVI  [19 12],  385)  suggests 
that  these  are  of  three  types:  (i)  those  having  the  general 
qualities  of  Hoff ding's  "conservation  of  values";  (2)  those 
insisting  on  the  supernatural  agency;  (3)  those  giving  chief 
importance' to  the  "feehng"  element.  Evidently  there  is 
another  distinction  from  the  standpoint  of  the  psychologist, 
namely,  whether  religion  arises  as  the  product  of  social 
organization  or  has  an  instinctive  basis  in  the  nature  of  man. 
Ames  and  King  represent  the  former  point  of  view;  James, 
Coe,  and  Stratton  the  latter. 

Literature. — See  Coe,  "Religion  from  the  Standpoint  of  Functional 
Psychology,"  American  Journal  of  Theology,  XV  (April,  191 1),  301-8, 


670        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

"The  Origin  and  Nature  of  Children's  Faith  in  God,"  ibid.,  XVIII 
(April,  1914),  169-90,  and  his  Psychology  of  Religion.  An  interesting 
attempt  at  a  mediating  point  of  view  is  made  by  Watson  in  an  article, 
"The  Logic  of  Religion,"  American  Journal  oj  Theology,  XX  (January 
and  April,  1916),  81-101  and  244-65. 

The  religious  experience  of  childhood. — On  the  basis  of 
genetic  psychology  we  are  to  ask,  What  is  the  nature  of  the 
rehgious  in  child  consciousness  ?  What  is  the  criterion  of 
religious  sentiment  in  the  child  ?  What  relation  does  it  hold 
to  other  phases  of  child  life  ?  Different  answers  to  these 
questions  are  suggested  by  the  authors  above  cited.  Those 
who  conceive  of  religion  as  a  social  phenomenon  consider 
that  it  belongs  almost  wholly  to  adolescence,  childhood 
religion  being  objective,  external,  ritualistic,  imitative. 
Those  who  find  an  instinctive  basis  for  religion  in  the  in- 
dividual would  credit  children  with  the  possibility  of  a 
genuine,  if  simple,  religious  experience.  Much  further  study 
of  individual  children  needs  to  be  made. 

The  religious  experience  of  youth. — The  most  definite 
contribution  that  the  psychology  of  religion  has  made  is  its 
recognition  of  the  character  of  adolescent  religion.  The 
studies  of  Starbuck  and  Coe,  and  also  those  of  G.  Stanley 
Hall,  have  shown  that  ''conversion"  is  really  a  natural 
phenomenon  of  adolescence  based  on  the  growing  and  expand- 
ing of  the  personal  self.  Its  connection  with  the  rise  of  the 
sex-consciousness  is  very  interesting,  as  is  also  its  relation  to 
the  initiation  ceremonies  at  puberty  among  primitive  peoples. 
Some  have  gone  so  far  as  to  consider  religion  Itself  as  an 
outgrowth  of  sex  feeling.  The  religious  experience  of  the 
youth  is  so  largely  conditioned  by  adult  preconception  and 
prescriptions  that  there  is  still  much  opportunity  for  the 
study  of  its  normal  character. 

Conversion. — Distinction  ought  to  be  made  between  the 
religious  awakening  of  youth,  which  at  its  best  is  probably  a 
process  of  evaluation  and  idealization,  and  that  more  vital 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  671 

crisis  which  James  describes  as  the  unifying  of  the  divided 
self.  The  latter  is  generally  the  result  of  a  long  tension 
which  finally  yields  to  the  relaxation  of  peace. 

Literature. — The  writer  has  discussed  this  matter  with  reference 
to  its  educational  implications  in  an  article  on  "Some  Psychological 
Aspects  of  Regeneration"  in  the  Biblical  World,  XXXVII  (February, 
191 1),  78-88.    The  large  literature  on  the  subject  has  been  given  above. 

Sex  in  religion. — -The  question  of  the  differences  in  the 
religious  experiences  of  boys  and  girls,  and  of  men  and  women, 
is  a  very  interesting  and  important  one.  Most  of  the  dis- 
cussions on  the  subject  rather  superficially  state  that  the 
female  is  subjective,  introspective,  sentimental,  concerned 
with  religion  as  a  matter  of  personal  feeling  and  with  reference 
to  future  bliss,  while  the  male  is  objective,  rational,  con- 
cerned with  religion  as  a  matter  of  conduct  in  this  present 
world.  It  is  said  that  our  hymns  and  our  churches  are 
feminine,  and  that  therefore  women  greatly  outnumber  men 
in  them.  Perhaps  all  this  is  more  true  of  the  past  than 
of  the  present,  and  much  of  it  may  belong  to  the  hereditary 
treatment  which  women  have  received  rather  than  to  their 
psychological  constitution.  At  all  events,  it  is  becoming 
increasingly  difficult  to  consider  women  in  the  categories  thus 
laid  down.  They  insist  upon  intellectualizing  their  religion, 
in  demanding  outlets  of  religious  activity,  and  they  are  promi- 
nent in  reform  and  in  philanthropy.  Hall,  Starbuck,  Haslett, 
and  Coe  have  attempted  to  make  these  sex  distinctions  in 
religious  experience.  But  it  is  questionable  whether  we  yet 
know  very  much  about  the  matter.  Most  of  the  careful 
studies  in  adolescence  have  been  made  with  boys.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  more  will  be  done  in  the  study  of  girls. 

Literature. — Meantime  such  a  book  as  Thomas'  Sex  and  Society 
(Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1907)  is  a  basal  scientific 
treatise. 

Prayer. — The  psychology  of  religion  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  objective  efficacy  of  prayer,  nor  with  the  question  of  the 


672        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

reality  of  the  Being  to  whom  prayer  is  addressed.  This 
belongs  to  philosophy,  not  to  psychology,  and  at  last  to  faith, 
not  to  science.  Psychologically,  prayer  is  a  resultant  experi- 
ence in  attitude  and  in  language  of  the  awakened  religious 
consciousness.  It  satisfies  a  psychological  need.  It  has  a 
definite  subjective  justification.  The  mental  states  of  peace, 
exultation,  and  resolution  which  issue  upon  the  exercise 
of  prayer  are  due  to  the  release  of  conscious  tension.  The 
"demonstration"  of  the  Christian  Scientist  is,  of  course, 
psychologically  of  the  same  nature. 

Literature. — Strong's  Psychology  of  Prayer  (Chicago:  The  University 
of  Chicago  Press,  1909)  is  a  significant  study  of  the  subject  from  the 
standpoint  of  social  psychology. 

Revivals. — It  is  definitely  recognized  that  there  is  a  psy- 
chology of  the  crowd  which  is  different  from  that  of  the 
individual.  Such  a  book  as  Le  Bon's  The  Crowd  (London: 
Unwin,  1903)  presents  this  fact  with  great  clearness,  though 
one  is  not  obliged  to  accept  his  somewhat  cynical  view  of 
democracy.  The  revival  is  a  crowd  phenomenon.  Daven- 
port's careful  study  of  Primitive  Traits  in  Religious  Revivals 
(New  York:  Macmillan,  1905)  indicates  the  essential  char- 
acter of  these  movements  in  that  loss  of  normal  inhibitions 
and  that  development  of  the  "sympathetic  likemindedness" 
which  explain  many  of  the  extraordinary  results.  So  far  from 
feeling  that  these  studies  minimize  the  appreciation  of  the 
divine  power  in  saving  men,  many  earnest  people  think  that 
they  ought  to  enable  us  to  understand  the  laws  which  are  in- 
volved in  such  movements,  so  that  we  may  conserve  the  good 
results  and  eliminate  the  dangers.  On  the  basis  of  such  con- 
ceptions a  healthy  evangelism  may  well  be  developed. 

Worship. — Feeling  is  predominant  in  primitive  religion, 
and,  historically,  worship  developed  as  a  means  of  securing 
effective  results.  The  sacrifice,  prayer,  dance,  feasts,  fasts, 
whatever  may  have  been  their  supposedly  objective  value, 
derived   their  real  significance  from   their  manifestly  sub- 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  673 

jective  quality.  The  place  of  feeling  in  modern  religion  is 
an  important  question,  and,  in  connection  therewith,  the  part 
that  symbolism  and  ritual  ceremonies  may  play  in  stimulating 
it.  While  there  are  probably  two  types  of  mind,  one  type 
being  aided  by  the  introduction  of  outward  symbols  and 
ceremonies  and  the  other  hindered  by  it,  it  is  equally  true 
that  no  one  is  likely  to  be  independent  of  the  influence  of  con- 
crete images  and  sense  stimulations.  One  may  be  unaffected 
by  the  sacrament  but  powerfully  stirred  by  religious  music. 
Worship  is  significant  to  religion  in  four  ways:  (i)  conscious- 
ness is  controlled  and  directed  into  religious  paths;  (2)  there 
is  a  collective  suggestibility;  (3)  the  motor  expressions  of  a 
feeling  through  ritual  tend  to  a  continuance  of  the  emotion 
and  may  help  toward  making  it  of  motor  influence  in  con- 
duct; (4)  the  assumption  of  the  bodily  posture  connected  with 
any  feeling  tends  to  produce  or  to  strengthen  the  feeling.  This 
subject,  together  with  the  special  significance  of  music,  has 
been  discussed  in  connection  with  the  study  of  liturgies. 

Inspiration  and  prophecy. — Faith  believes  in  a  revealing 
God.  Psychology  can  only  concern  itself  with  the  way  in 
which  the  experience  of  that  revelation  appears  in  conscious- 
ness. The  message  which  is  "received"  is  usually  a  body  of 
ideas  suggested  to  the  mind  by  the  current  state  of  affairs.  It 
is,  in  other  words,  a  subconscious  inference  from  situations. 
It  involves  highly  intellectual  processes  of  judgment,  imagina- 
tion, and  reasoning.  Kaplan  says:  "Revelation.  ....  is  a 
sudden  mysterious  awareness  of  an  inflow  of  thought,  an 
inundation  of  spirit,  an  awakening  of  mind,  seemingly  from 
unaccountable  (subconscious)  sources  and  therefore  believed 
to  be  ...  .  through  supernatural  agency."  The  prophet 
really  delivered  a  rational  message,  although  it  may  often 
have  seemed  to  him  to  be  other  than  his  own.  The  vitally 
important  matter  for  modern  religion  is  that  the  rational 
character  of  the  message  shall  be  understood  so  that  the  mod- 
ern recipient  may  realize  his  own  responsibility  of  rational 


674        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

interpretation.  An  objective  message  from  Deity  must  be 
obeyed  without  thought  or  question;  the  inspired  message 
through  a  man  must  be  evaluated  in  human  experience.  So 
may  the  psychology  of  religion  help  our  faith. 

Literature. — Thomas  has  treated  "The  Psychological  Approach  to 
Prophecy"  in  the  American  Journal  of  Theology,  XVIII  (April,  1914), 
241-56. 

Mysticism. — Mysticism  as  an  experience  subject  to  psy- 
chological investigation  is  a  consciousness  of  immediate  union 
with  the  Infinite.  The  emotional  element  always  predom- 
inates, and  the  fundamental  quality  of  the  emotionalism 
is  love.  Mystic  experiences  are  of  many  kinds  and  are 
much  dependent  upon  individual  temperament.  The  absorp- 
tion of  the  mind  in  one  dominant  idea,  and  the  excess 
of  undifferentiated  emotion  which  generally  accompanies  it, 
may  easily  result  in  abnormality  and  mental  disease.  Yet 
all  forms  of  religious  experience  contain  some  element  of 
mysticism,  and  all  the  great  saints  have  been  mystics.  In  the 
practical  religion  that  is  so  much  desiderated  by  many  for 
modern  times,  it  is  of  great  moment  to  inquire  what  place 
will  be  found  for  the  mystic  element  that  has  characterized 
the  supreme  religious  spirits  of  the  past. 

Literature. — See  Underhill,  Mysticism:  A  Study  in  the  Nature  and 
Development  of  Man^s  Spiritual  Consciousness  (London:  Methuen,  1911). 

Ethnic  aspects  of  religious  consciousness. — The  history 
of  religion  is  concerned  with  the  comparative  study  of  the 
objective  facts.  The  psychology  of  religion  may  undertake 
to  discover  the  actual  differences  in  the  religious  experience 
of  persons  of  different  races.  Does  a  Japanese  youth  have 
an  evaluated  experience  with  reference  to  the  sun-god  that 
is  comparable  with  the  "religious  awakening"  of  the  Chris- 
tian youth  ?  If  not,  does  the  difference  lie  in  the  intellectual 
content  of   the   religion  or  in  any  ethnic  quality  of  mind  ? 


PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  675 

Evidently,  if  missionary  education  is  to  be  carried  on  scien- 
tifically, much  remains  to  be  done  in  this  field. 

Conclusion. — The  foregoing  are  some  of  the  more  impor- 
tant problems  which  it  is  the  task  of  the  developing  science 
of  the  psychology  of  religion  to  investigate.  There  are  many 
others,  for  every  phase  of  religion  has  its  psychological  aspect. 
As  above  indicated,  the  employment  of  the  results  of  these 
studies  in  practical  religious  work  is  the  task  of  religious 
education. 

Literature. — *James,  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience  (London: 
Longmans,  Green,  &.  Co.,  1902),  is  a  great  contribution  on  the  basis 
of  the  study  of  religious  biography.  Starbuck,  Psychology  of  Religion 
(New  York:  Scribner,  1899),  gives  an  analysis  of  the  conversion  experi- 
ence on  the  basis  of  the  questionnaire;  it  is  particularly  strong  in  the  treat- 
ment of  adolescent  experience.  Coe,  The  Spiritual  Life  (New  York : 
Revell,  1900),  is  particularly  concerned  with  the  religious  awakening 
of  youth  and  with  the  relation  of  temperament  to  various  religious 
experiences.  The  book  is  based  partly  on  a  questionnaire.  Davenport, 
Primitive  Traits  in  Religious  Revivals  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1905), 
presents  an  examination  of  the  great  revivals  in  Christian  history,  with 
reference  to  an  explanation  of  the  psychic  phenomena  there  manifested. 
Irving  King,  The  Development  of  Religion  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
1 9 10),  while  belonging  rather  in  the  historical  field,  is  a  treatment  of 
religious  phenomena  from  the  standpoint  of  the  psychologist.  *Ames, 
The  Psychology  of  Religious  Experience  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin 
Co.,  1910),  gives  an  interpretation  of  religion  from  the  standpoint  of 
functional  psychology.  It  is  a  very  able  and  interesting  book.  Leuba, 
A  Psychological  Study  of  Religion;  Its  Origin,  Function,  and  Future 
(New  York:  Macmillan,  191 2),  gives  an  interpretation  of  religion  by 
means  of  a  study  of  its  primitive  manifestations  and  of  the  purpose 
that  it  has  served  in  human  life.  The  author  looks  for  a  non-theistic 
religion  of  humanity.  Stratton,  in  The  Psychology  of  the  Religious  Life 
(London :  George  Allen  &  Co.,  191 1) ,  finds  in  the  religious  life  an  inherent 
struggle  and  studies  the  conflict  in  the  field  of  emotion,  of  action,  and  of 
thought.  He  deals  rather  with  the  great  historic  religions  than  with 
those  of  primitive  people.  F.  G.  Henke,  A  Study  in  the  Psychology  of 
Ritualism  (Chicago :  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  19 10),  is  a  Doctor's 
dissertation  (University  of  Chicago)  on  primitive  rituals  and  their 
meaning.    J.  P.  Hylan,  Psychology  of  Public  Worship  (Chicago:   Open 


676        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Court  Pub.  Co.,  1901),  is  a  little  book  based  on  a  questionnaire  as  to  the 
feelings  of  people  with  reference  to  the  Sabbath  and  worship.  The 
discussion  is  illuminating.  A.  L.  Strong,  The  Psychology  oj  Prayer 
(Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909),  is  a  study  of  prayer 
from  the  standpoint  of  social  psychology.  Coe,  Psychology  of  Religion 
(Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1916),  is  a  significant  in- 
sistence that  the  implications  of  functional  psychology  must  be  carried 
through.  The  modern  Christian  will  feel  that  this  is  a  psychology  of 
his  own  religion. 


XL     CHRISTIANITY    AND    SOCIAL    PROBLEMS 

By  CHARLES  RICHMOND  HENDERSON 

Late  Professor  and  Head  of  the  Department  of  Practical  Sociology  in  the 

Divinity  School,  University  of  Chicago 


ANALYSIS 

I.  The  Social  Evolution  of  Christianity. — ^The  development  of  the 
Hebrew  religion. — The  message  of  Jesus. — ^The  primitive  church. — 
Constantine  and  the  Latin  church. — Mediaeval  thought.— The 
Renaissance. — The  Reformation. — The  assimilating  power  of  Chris- 
tianity.— Christianity  as  a  contemporary  system  of  beliefs,  life, 
institutions.- — Biblical   exegesis    cannot    be    substituted    for    social 

science 679-687 

II.  Contemporary  Social  Problems. — i.  The  equipment  essential 
to  social  leadership. — 2.  The  historical  evolution  of  social  ideals  and 
institutions. — Evolution  of  the  race  and  its  institutions. — ^The  impor- 
tance of  historical  knowledge. — ^The  main  aspects  of  the  development 
of  industry  and  commerce. — a)  Primitive  industrial  conditions. — 
b)  Mediaeval  industry  and  trade. — c)  The  downfall  of  feudalism. — 
d)  Modem  industrial  conditions. — The  church  and  modern  industrial- 
ism.— The  need  of  historical  perspective. — The  evolution  of  ideas  and 
ideals. — Evolution  of  poor  relief. — The  development  of  modern 
social-political  ideals 687-699 

III.  Personal  Preparation  for  Leadership  in  Social  Service. — 
Education  in  the  social  sciences. — In  the  high  school. — In  the  college 
and  university. — Curriculum  of  social  sciences.— The  training  of 

social  workers 699-703 

IV.  Analysis  and  Classification  of  Social  Problems. — i.  The 
social  groups. — 2.  Community  interests. — Social  regulation. — 
Property. — Social  problems. — Social  technique 703-710 

V.  Christianity  in  Relation  to  Social  Problems. — i.  The  ideals  of 
the  church. — 2.  The  resources  of  the  church. — The  Bible. — Inspiring 
personalities. — Christian  literature. — Personal  influence  of  members 
of  the  church. — Educational  equipment. — 3.  Defects  of  the  church. — 
4.  Signs  of  promise. — The  zeal  for  reformation. — Missions. — Co- 
operation and  federation. — The  wise  direction  of  effort  in  the  near 
future. — The  characteristic  social  task  of  the  church  the  ministry  of 
religion. — The  promotion  of  social  reforms. — The  need  of  workers. — 
Social    politics. — Welfare     work. — Socialism. — Common    wealth. — 

Perils  of  progress. — Fellowship  in  religion  the  crown  of  all  progress  .      710-728 


XI.     CHRISTIANITY  AND   SOCIAL   PROBLEMS' 

I.      THE    SOCIAL   EVOLUTION   OF    CHRISTIANITY 

The    development    of    the    Hebrew   religion. — The    Old 

Testament  supplies  materials  for  a  history  of  the  growth  of 
the  Hebrew  people,  its  evolution  from  tribal  conditions  to  its 
incorporation  into  the  Roman  Empire.  These  fragmentary 
documents  are  themselves  composed  of  varied  notices  of  the 
land,  population,  industries,  domestic  experiences,  trade,  art, 
customs,  sentiments,  laws,  governments,  wars,  and  treaties 
of  Palestine  and  neighboring  countries.  They  reflect  the 
state  of  knowledge,  the  superstitions,  the  changing  policies, 
the  ceremonies,  philosophies,  and  beliefs  of  the  people  at 
different  periods.  The  ideas  of  God  which  came  to  expression 
are  affected  by  all  these  experiences  of  persons  of  many  degrees 
of  ethical  and  spiritual  ripeness.  The  later  editors  of  the 
books  sought  to  reduce  the  apparent  inconsistencies,  more  or 
less  consciously,  but  many  anomalies  remain — fortunately  for 
a  better  understanding  of  the  real  course  of  progress. 

Specialists  in  Hebrew  literature  and  history  must  be  con- 
sulted for  the  details.  For  our  present  purpose  it  must  suffice 
to  indicate  a  few  results  of  the  process.  The  conception  of 
God  which  emerged  out  of  the  long  struggle  is  central:  the 
idea  of  the  One  Almighty  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth; 
righteous  himself  and  requiring  righteousness  in  heart  and 
conduct  of  all  men;  caring  little  for  ceremonies,  everything  for 
justice,  mercy,  and  humble  piety,  and  demanding  obedience 
to  holy  law  in  all  relations  of  life,  domestic,  commercial, 
political.  The  narrow  popular  conceptions,  the  fiercely 
patriotic  narrowness  of  certain  parties,  the  materialistic  and 

'  This  chapter  was  nearly  completed  by  Professor  Henderson  just  before 
his  death.  He  would  undoubtedly  have  revised  it  had  he  lived;  but  it  seemed 
best  to  publish  it  substantially  as  he  left  it. — The  Editor. 

679 


68o        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

catastrophic  expectations  of  the  Messiah  as  avenger  and 
restorer  of  Israel,  modify  and  pollute  these  lofty  conceptions 
but  do  not  altogether  obliterate  them.  Here  and  there  visions 
of  international  moral  and  religious  comity  and  even  of  immor- 
tality widen  the  horizon  of  thought. 

Literature. — Edward  Day,  The  Social  Life  of  the  Hebrews  (New  York: 
Scribner,  1901) ;  Frank  Buhl,  Die  sozialen  Verhdltnisse  der  Israeliten 
(Berlin:  Reuther  und  Reichard,  1899);  P.  Kleinert,  Die  Profeten 
Israels  in  sozialer  Beziehung  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1905);  George  A. 
Barton,  A  Sketch  of  Semitic  Origins,  Social  and  Religious  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1902);  W.  Robertson  Smith,  Lectures  on  the  Religion  of  the 
Semites:  The  Fundamental  Institutions  (London:  Black,  1894);  Louis 
Wallis,  Sociological  Study  of  the  Bible  (Chicago:  The  University  of 
Chicago  Press,  191 2). 

The  message  of  Jesus. — Jesus  brought  to  consciousness 
the  infinite  worth  of  personality  in  communion  with  God  the 
Father.  Compared  with  the  blessedness  of  fellowship  with 
God,  all  other  interests  seemed  to  him  secondary,  and  might 
be  postponed;  the  essentials  are  in  the  Beatitudes,  mercy, 
peace,  humility,  purity  of  heart.  Jesus  was  not  ascetic,  not 
indifferent  to  the  hunger,  the  pain,  and  the  joy  of  this  life; 
but  he  insisted  on  the  supreme  and  all-inclusive  good,  what- 
ever else  deserved  consideration.  He  did  not  attempt  to 
make  laws  nor  to  organize  a  church  or  government;  he  pro- 
mulgated no  social  program.  Yet  when  his  views  of  God, 
of  friendship,  of  holiness,  of  virtue,  of  the  boundless  worth 
of  a  person  are  accepted,  the  seeds  of  social  revolution  and 
progress  are  planted. 

The  primitive  church. — The  early  followers  of  Jesus 
huddled  together  for  mutual  protection,  dreading  the  coming 
storm  of  persecution,  and  attracted  also  by  the  enthusiasm 
of  devotion  to  the  ascended  Lord.  They  apparently  mis- 
apprehended Jesus'  words  about  a  swiftly  coming  Kingdom, 
and  even  pulled  wires  to  make  sure  of  prominent  offices. 
They  believed  that  the  world  without  was  soon  to  fall  with  a 
crash;    crowns  and  thrones,  merchandise  and  art,  far-seeing 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  68 1 

plans  of  improvement,  were  out  of  the  question,  too  unimpor- 
tant for  them  to  consider.  Most  of  the  early  Christians  were 
of  the  petty  trading  class,  rf  not  wretched  slaves.  Few  dis- 
tinguished men  of  state  or  learning  at  first  deigned  to  notice 
them.  They  lived  in  small  circles  of  intimates;  their  philan- 
thropy was  expressed  in  alms-giving,  with  a  few  simple  rules 
to  prevent  abuses.  It  was  not  worth  while  to  try  to  save 
the  institutions  of  society  or  to  try  to  mend  them;  all  would 
soon  be  consumed,  and  a  new  earth  emerge  out  of  the  flames. 
We  look  in  vain  for  any  large  constructive  policy  under  such 
conditions.  Yet  the  ferment  of  divine  friendship  was  there, 
and  the  little  congregations  became  the  nurseries  of  senti- 
ments which  one  day  would  dominate  the  policies  of  nations. 
Time  passed;  knowledge  enlarged  with  experience;  the 
heavens  did  not  depart  as  a  scroll;  the  churches  were  welded 
together  by  the  bishops  into  organized  institutions;  the 
authorities  of  the  Empire  were  compelled  to  pay  attention  to 
the  new  society,  even  when  they  persecuted  it. 

Literature. — Suggestive  studies  of  the  social  aspects  of  early  Chris- 
tianity are  found  in  Troeltsch,  Die  Soziallehren  der  christlicher  Kirchen 
und  Gruppen  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  19 12);  Harnack,  Die  Mission  und 
Ausbreitung  des  Chrislentums  in  den  ersten  3  J ahrhunderten  (Leipzig: 
Hinrichs,  1902;  2d  ed.,  1906;  English  translation  by  Moffat,  The 
Mission  and  Expansion  oj  Christianity  in  the  First  Three  Centuries 
[London:  Williams  &  Norgate,  1904  and  1905]);  von  Dobschiitz,  Die 
iirchristlichen  Gemeinden  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1902;  English  translation 
by  Morrison,  Christian  Life  in  the  Primitive  Church  [London:  Williams 
&  Norgate,  1904]);  Uhlhom,  Die  christliche  Liebesthdtigkeit  in  den  alten 
Kirche  (Stuttgart:  Gundert,  1882;  English  translation  by  Taylor, 
Christian  Charity  in  the  Ancient  Church  [London:  Hamilton,  1883]); 
see  also  Mathews,  The  Social  Teaching  of  Jesus  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
1897);  Cone,  Rich  and  Poor  in  the  New  Testament  (New  York:  Mac- 
millan, 1902);  Mathews,  The  Messianic  Hope  in  the  New  Testament, 
Part  IV  (Chicago:   The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1904). 

Constantine  and  the  Latin  church. — The  reign  of  Con- 
stantine  marks  a  new  epoch — the  recognition  of  the  church 
by  the  government,  the  beginning  of  ecclesiastical  influence 


682        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

in  legislation,  the  possession  of  property  in  land  and  buildings 
by  rich  people  and  by  the  church,  social  honors  for  the  clergy, 
centralization  of  episcopal  direction,  with  a  Romeward 
trend.  The  "decline  and  fall"  of  Rome,  as  a  political  organi- 
zation, left  the  West  with  a  memory  of  an  empire  and  a  dream 
of  its  renewal;  or,  rather,  the  "Holy  Roman  Empire" 
insensibly  and  gradually  grew  naturally  out  of  the  ancient 
system.  When  the  center  of  sovereignty  was  transferred  to 
Constantinople,  the  Bishop  of  the  Eternal  City  stood  alone  in 
Italy  as  the  representative  of  this  ideal,  and  men  of  genius 
were  ready  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity,  "for  the 
greater  glory  of  God."  As  the  legions  returned  from  the 
North  defeated,  missionaries,  by  martyrdom,  charity,  learn- 
ing, pomp,  and  mystery,  carried  the  ancient  culture  to  the 
Teutons,  and  Charlemagne  tried  to  learn  to  write  Latin 
and  to  establish  a  sort  of  university  at  his  court.  But  native 
Teutonic  culture  was  never  extinguished;  it  entered  with  new 
factors  into  the  movement  of  civilization;  developed  the 
free  spirit  of  cities,  and  gradually  a  nation;  kept  on  its  own 
course  in  civil  and  criminal  law,  with  Roman  grafts  on  its 
rude  strong  trunk  of  custom;  created  its  own  literature; 
finally  broke  with  Roman  control  into  the  Humanist  and 
Reformation  movements,  and  aspired  to  supreme  influence  in 
the  science  and  trade  of  mankind. 

Mediaeval  thought. — In  this  long  and  complicated  process 
the  doctrines,  the  feelings,  the  ideals,  the  institutions  which 
were  called  "  Christianity,"  were  all  modified.  The  Bible  was 
quoted  by  all  parties,  but  by  none  with  the  exact  primitive 
meaning.  Both  Plato  and  Aristotle  profoundly  influenced 
the  theologians,  as  is  seen  in  Aquinas  and  Dante.  They 
contributed  political,  economic,  ethical,  and  even  religious 
ideas  too  valuable  to  be  lost.  The  church  from  its  origin  down 
had  leaders  of  sufficient  learning  and  ability  to  discover  and 
appreciate  these  classic  elements  and  to  utilize  them.  They 
justified  themselves  for  this  borrowing  process  on  various 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  683 

grounds;  but  the  significant  fact  is  that  they  borrowed  with- 
out stint  or  scruple,  and  our  "Christianity"  is  immensely 
richer  for  their  studies. 

The  Renaissance. — When  with  the  Renaissance  the  Greek 
literature  was  brought  to  Italy,  the  ecclesiastics  went  mad 
over  profane  and  even  unclean  classics,  the  storm  broke  out 
again,  and  when  it  cleared  the  classics  at  times  almost  dis- 
placed the  Bible  in  Europe  and  America  as  the  substantial 
material  of  academic  culture.  The  assimilation  of  the  ancient 
ideas  is  so  complete  that  we  read  them  into  the  simplest 
parables  of  Jesus  and  into  the  rabbinical  metaphysics  of 
Paul,  often  to  the  concealment  of  their  real  meaning.  The 
critical  operation  of  dissecting  out  the  originals  of  our  stocks 
of  ethical  and  theological  conceptions  is  not  yet  complete. 
Since  all  that  is  true  emanates  from  the  one  Holy  Spirit  who 
dwelt  in  Jesus,  we  may  enjoy  our  full  heritage  without  anxiety 
about  the  human  sources.  "All  things  are  Christ's;  Christ 
is  God's." 

The  Reformation.^The  Reformers  helped  to  liberate 
human  spirits  from  bondage  to  ecclesiastical  absolutism  and 
to  seek  a  direct  and  personal  communion  with  God  by  a  living 
faith.  In  matters  pertaining  to  church  and  state  the  Luther- 
ans and  the  Calvinists  parted  company,  the  latter  making 
a  larger  contribution  to  the  activity  of  the  church  in  the 
alBfairs  of  daily  life.  Neither  entirely  escaped  from  the  delu- 
sion that  religious  orthodoxy  can  be  enforced  by  political 
power;  neither  quite  attained  confidence  in  the  self-evidencing 
truth  of  religion  as  a  personal  experience;  instead  of  relying 
on  a  pope  they  leaned  on  a  book  for  a  prop  of  infallibility. 
But  devout  men,  whether  Catholic,  Lutheran,  Calvinist,  or 
sectarian,  all  possessed  within  themselves  a  life  which  pro- 
ceeded immediately  from  God  and  was  not  at  the  mercy  of 
changes  of  creed  or  church. 

The  assimilating  power  of  Christianity. — One  of  the 
distinctive  features  of  Christianity  is  its  power  of  assimilation 


684        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

without  loss  of  its  genius.  Hinduism  appropriates  and 
swallows  up  in  the  gulf  of  nihilism  all  sorts  of  faiths;  Chris- 
tianity assimilates  novel  and  diverse  elements  from  Palestine, 
Greece,  Rome,  and  the  Far  Orient,  yet  without  failing  to 
assert  uncompromisingly  the  holiness  of  the  supreme  God, 
the  redemption  which  sinful  men  need,  and  the  hope  of 
personal  immortality  which  gives  value  to  time. 

Christianity  as  a  contemporary  system  of  beliefs,  life, 
institutions. — To  the  historical  student  contemporary  Chris- 
tianity reveals  many  elements,  some  of  them  contradictory, 
which  have  come  down  to  us  from  many  sources.  It  would 
be  easy  to  show  that  the  doctrines  of  the  churches  of  today  are 
not  in  a  single  instance  precisely  those  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians; that  the  various  ceremonies  and  modes  of  administra- 
tion which  characterize  multiplied  sects  could  not  all  be  those 
of  the  apostolic  church.  If  we  attempted  literally  to  "go 
back  to  Jesus,"  in  the  sense  of  believing  and  teaching  what 
can  be  found  in  his  words,  we  should  be  poorer  than  we  are. 
For  evil  and  for  good,  every  age,  experience,  system,  debate, 
and  organization  of  the  past  has  left  its  precipitate  in  our 
institutions,  convictions,  customs,  and  modes  of  thinking. 
The  problem  is  not  to  find  and  keep  what  was  known  to  the 
primitive  churches,  but  what  is  true,  valuable,  workable  now. 
No  one  who  really  beheves  in  Christ  can  ever  fear  that  a  new 
truth  will  contradict  his  fundamental  ideals.  No  one  who 
intelligently  repeats  the  creed,  "I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost," 
can  fear  to  trust  Him  who  is  guide  into  all  truth.  No  one 
should  pretend,  by  legerdemain  and  juggHng  with  words,  to 
deduce  his  social  science  from  biblical  texts.  He  will  do 
well  to  live  in  spiritual  contact  with  lawgivers  and  prophets, 
with  the  apostles,  and  with  Jesus  most  of  all;  but  he  wrongs 
these  by  asking  them  to  describe,  explain,  and  interpret  the 
phenomena  of  all  lands,  peoples,  and  ages,  so  as  to  make 
investigation  superfluous  and  to  give  countenance  to  intel- 
lectual indolence.     Religion  is  life  in  the  realm  of  values, 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  685 

above  the  causal  series  whose  unbroken  iron  chain  belongs 
to  the  domain  of  the  sciences,  including  history  and  all  social 
sciences.  There  is  sharp  conflict  the  moment  the  seer  assumes 
the  role  of  statistician  and  statesman.  Nothing  is  more 
pitiful  than  the  solemn  tricks  some  devout  biblical  students 
have  played  with  the  cryptic  symbols  of  Daniel  and  the 
dream  of  Patmos,  and  the  equally  mistaken  attempt  to  evolve 
from  a  spiritual  maxim  of  Jesus  a  legal  constitution  for 
family,  republic,  or  industrial  system. 

Biblical  exegesis  cannot  be  substituted  for  social  science. — 
It  is  only  fair  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  conclusion 
here  stated  is  entirely  opposed  to  the  position  of  many 
excellent  writers  who  think  that  we  can  find  in  the  words  of 
Jesus  an  answer  to  all  the  social  questions  of  our  age.  The 
revelation  of  God  in  the  Bible  was  never  intended  to  be  a 
substitute  for  common-sense,  invention,  and  investigation 
according  to  the  requirements  of  changing  situations. 

The  proof  of  this  statement  is  found  first  of  all  in  the  utter 
failure  of  merely  exegetical  studies  to  throw  light  on  any 
inodern  problem,  save  by  furnishing  fundamental  ideals  and 
rehgious  inspiration.  The  business  man  who  selected  his 
investments  by  reference  to  Scripture  texts  would  soon  go 
bankrupt.  The  Canadian  farmer  who  treated  the  descrip- 
tions of  Palestinian  agriculture  in  the  Psalms  as  author- 
ity for  his  ploughing  and  planting  would  perish  with  his 
children  on  the  fertile  prairie  of  the  Northwest.  The  states- 
man who  consulted  the  Pentateuch  or  the  parables  of  the 
New  Testament  for  direction  in  drawing  up  statutes  of  social 
legislation  would  never  be  returned  to  the  legislature;  he 
would  probably  be  sent  to  a  hospital  for  the  mentally  dis- 
turbed. The  disappointments  which  have  befallen  those 
who  have  tried  to  foretell  events  by  interpreting  the  Apoca- 
lypse are  familiar  to  all  students  of  church  history. 

Principles  of  righteousness  in  morals  and  religion  are 
"Christian"   even    though    they   cannot   be   explicitly   and 


686        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

verbally  drawn  from  Old  or  New  Testament.  Finding  a 
teaching  good  is  a  discovery  of  a  revelation  of  the  will  of  the 
Father,  no  matter  how  new.  Unless  Christ  is  dead,  as  his 
enemies  claim,  he  is  doing  something  now.  He  is  not  thresh- 
ing out  dry  chaff,  nor  moving  in  a  circle  like  a  blind  animal 
turning  a  wheel.  He  is  the  everlasting  Creator;  it  is  his 
Spirit  which  is  guiding  into  new  truth;  and  some  day  we  shall 
realize  that  this  is  the  final  and  only  adequate  explanation  of 
those  great  and  growing  creations  which  we  call  science,  art, 
progress. 

Literature. — ^The  following  books,  written  by  eminent  representatives 
of  modern  Christianity,  in  an  earnest  historical  spirit,  have  been  influ- 
ential in  revealing  to  the  churches  the  obligations  of  Christian  men  to 
improve  the  outward  conditions  of  life  and  to  increase  the  incentives  to 
upright  and  useful  conduct.  Their  arguments  rest  partly  on  inter- 
pretations of  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  partly  on  genial  and  intelligent 
views  entertained  by  men  of  wide  reading,  large  experience,  and  sym- 
pathy for  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  They  are  not  based  entirely 
on  the  inductive  method  of  reaching  conclusions,  and  they  do  not 
furnish  adequate  material  for  independent  judgment  on  the  subjects  dis- 
cussed.    They  ^re  rather  literary  than  scientific. 

Many  of  these  titles,  and  also  those  of  books  of  scientific  value,  are 
found  in  A  Guide  to  Reading  in  Social  Ethics  and  Allied  Subjects,  by 
Teachers  in  Harvard  University  (Cambridge:  Harvard  University 
Press,  1910),  (pp.  216  ff.);  it  contains  many  valuable  helps  for  our 
study  in  all  directions;  Ernst  Troeltsch,  Die  SoziaUehren  der  christUchen 
Kirchen  und  Gruppen  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  191 2),  gives  a  masterly  inter- 
pretation of  the  development  of  Christian  thought  on  social  problems 
from  the  time  of  the  primitive  church  to  our  own  day.  The  notes  are 
an  indispensable  apparatus  of  illustrations,  quotations  of  sources,  and 
bibliography.  See  also  W.  H.  Freemantle,  The  World  as  the  Subject  of 
Redemption  (London:  Rivington,  1885);  Lyman  Abbott,  Christianity 
and  Social  Problems  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1897);  *Fairbaim, 
Religion  in  History  and  Modern  Life  (London:  Hodder  &  Stoughton, 
1894);  W.  Gladden,  Applied  Christianity  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin 
Co.,  1886);  R.  T.  Ely,  Social  Aspects  of  Christianity  (New  York:  T.  Y. 
Crowell  &  Co.,  1889) ;  *Gore,  "  The  Social  Doctrine  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,"  Economic  Review,  April,  1892;  *Bosanquet,  The  Civilization 
of  Christendom   (London:    Sonnenschein,   1893);    *Hodges,  Faith  and 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  687 

Social  Service  (New  York:  Whitaker,  1896);  Harnack,  Das  Wesen  des 
Christentums  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs,  1900,  and  several  editions;  English 
translation  by  Saunders,  What  Is  Christianity?  [New  York:  Putnam, 
1901]);  Mathews,  The  Social  Teaching  of  Jesus  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
1897)  and  The  Gospel  and  the  Modern  Man  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
1909);  Francis  G.  Peabody,  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question  (New 
York:  Macmillan,  1900);  Walter  Rauschenbusch,  Christianity  and  the 
Social  Crisis  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1907)  and  Christianizing  the 
Social  Order  (New  York:  Macmillan,  191 2);  *Nathusius,  Die  Mit- 
arbeit  der  Kirche  an  die  Losung  der  sozialen  Frage  (Leipzig:  Hinrichs, 
1893),  a  work  which  approaches  in  form  and  method  the  standard  texts 
of  social  science. 

Valuable  historical  suggestions  and  bibliographies  are  found  in 
W.  J.  Ashley,  An  Introduction  to  English  Economic  History  and  Theory 
(New  York:  Putnam,  1894;  3d  ed.,  1898),  which  contains  a  learned  and 
sensible  discussion  of  the  mediaeval  social  ethics  of  usury,  business, 
charity;  J.  Dewey  and  J.  H.  Tufts,  Ethics  (New  York:  Henry  Holt 
&  Co.,  1908),  a  strong  presentation  of  the  fact  that  duties  are  determined 
by  the  total  social  situation,  with  a  fine  bibliography;  J.  S.  Mackenzie, 
An  Introduction  to  Social  Philosophy  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1890), 
a  pioneer  work  in  the  movement  to  reveal  the  ethical  life  in  its  relations 
to  the  community  and  the  fulness  of  its  needs;  G.  B.  Smith,  Social 
Idealism  and  the  Changing  Theology  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1913); 
E.  A.  Ross,  Sin  and  Society  (Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1907). 

II.      CONTEMBORARY    SOCIAL   PROBLEMS 
I.      FUNDAMENTAL   SCIENTIFIC   DISCIPLINE 

The  equipment  essential  to  social  leadership. — There 
is  no  easy  substitute  for  scientific  toil.  The  traditional  and 
conventional  equipment  of  the  college  and  theological  semi- 
nary of  the  past  has  left  men  helpless  in  the  presence  of  the 
new  situations  in  which  Christian  laymen  find  themselves  in 
consequence  of  the  industrial  revolution  of  the  last  century 
and  the  problems  it  has  brought.  It  may  possibly  be  an  open 
question  with  some  preachers  whether  they  should  ever  try  to 
help  the  men  of  their  congregations  find  the  path  of  righteous- 
ness in  this  babel  and  labyrinth  of  conflicting  interests.  Per- 
haps many  saintly  men,  while  remaining  quite  innocent  of 
knowledge  of  the  actual  world,  may  inspire  and  comfort  and 


688        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

may  have  the  gift  of  soothing  with  rhetorical  and  poetic 
charms.  There  is  a  literature  of  power  and  beauty  which 
belongs  to  all  times,  because  it  has  a  universal  value,  and  it  is 
by  no  means  to  be  underrated  in  these  materialistic  and 
mammon-serving  times.  Certainly  no  preacher  who  has  missed 
the  opportunity  to  study  social  science  should  pretend  to  in- 
struct others  when  he  is  incompetent  himself. 

There  are  others,  however,  who  believe  themselves  called 
to  give  strong  intellectual  help  to  honest  Christian  men  seeking 
to  do  justice  in  a  new  world  where  all  ancient  experience  is 
inadequate,  and  to  proclaim  a  judgment  to  come  against  the 
contemporary  and  impenitent  workers  of  iniquity.  Ministers 
of  this  type  are  also  needed;  and  they  should  at  least  be 
tolerated  by  the  "orthodox."  In  a  period  of  intellectual 
pitilessness  and  readjustment  there  is  good  need  of  charitable 
judgment  on  both  sides. 

It  may  prove  to  be  necessary  for  the  church  to  provide 
for  specialization  in  the  ministry,  for  the  Spirit  grants  a 
diversity  of  gifts.  The  artistic  preacher  has  his  function  and 
his  following,  but  he  is  likely  to  jumble  statistics.  The  sci- 
entific temperament  inclines  to  severe  and  exact  reasoning 
on  the  basis  of  precise  measurement-  of  facts ;  and  there  are 
congregations  which  enjoy  and  profit  by  the  kind  of  sermons 
which  grow  naturally  out  of  such  a  method.  In  the  good 
time  coming,  when  union  churches  will  displace  sectarian 
chapels,  it  may  not  be  difficult  to  establish  a  new  and  modern 
itinerant  system,  "lest  one  good  custom  should  corrupt  the 
world."  In  a  well-trained  orchestra  the  vioHn  does  not  say 
to  the  violoncello,  "I  have  no  need  of  thee."  In  a  truly 
catholic  church  we  ought  to  find  devout  mystics  who  dwell 
much  alone  and  apart  in  protracted  meditation,  and  who  are 
able  to  make  the  invisible  seem  real.  Let  them  dream  their 
dreams  but  not  meddle  with  strikes.  The  musician  who 
tries  to  make  steel  rails  imperils  his  fellow- workmen  and  loses 
the  cunning  of  his  delicate  fingers. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  689 

The  knowledge  which  is  required  for  this  novel  situation 
is  that  contained  in  the  modern  sciences  on  which  our  industrial 
technique,  our  administration  of  business  and  government,  is 
based.  Preparation  for  understanding  the  ethical  difficulties 
and  obligations  of  the  modern  man  demands  a  study,  not  only 
of  the  essential  ideas  of  the  civiHzations  of  Greece,  Rome, 
Palestine,  and  the  Hanseatic  cities,  but  of  physics,  chemistry, 
physiography,  biology,  preventive  medicine,  economics, 
politics,  and  sociology.  A  profound  blunder  has  been  com- 
mitted by  men  who  have  been  eager  to  master  in  a  fortnight  all 
the  social  problems,  while  they  were  still  without  training  in 
social  science.  This  is  rank  quackery  and  brings  the  speaker 
or  writer  into  contempt,  and  it  injures  church  and  religion. 

The  general  social  sciences,  as  economics,  political  science, 
jurisprudence,  sociology,  with  statistics  as  a  method  of 
research  which  belongs  to  all,  have  for  their  first  purpose  a 
description  of  the  phenomena  of  contemporary  human 
association  and  their  explanation  in  terms  of  antecedents 
and  causes.  The  special  or  practical  social  sciences  have  for 
their  function  the  study  of  the  improvement  of  methods  of 
promoting  human  welfare  by  concerted  voUtion  guided  by 
knowledge  and  urged  by  motives. 

Literature. — Further  discussion  of  this  point  is  found  in  C.  R. 
Henderson,  Practical  Sociology  in  the  Service  of  Social  Ethics  (Chicago: 
The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1902). 

2.      THF,   HISTORICAL   EVOLUTION   OF   SOCIAL   IDEALS   AND 
INSTITUTIONS 

Evolution  of  the  race  and  its  institutions. — The  popular 
conception  which  we  have  inherited  from  traditional  theology 
is  that  of  a  series  of  disconnected,  unrelated  events  nailed 
together  by  some  constant  supernatural,  magical,  unintelli- 
gible intervention.  The  modern  scientific  conception  is  that 
of  an  immanent  organic  force  working  steadily  and  perpetu- 
ally without  a  break  and  without  interference — the  idea  of 


690        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

evolution.  Theism  has  been  held  to  by  partisans  of  both 
views,  but  the  modern  scholar,  whether  theist  or  agnostic, 
habitually  thinks  in  terms  of  evolution. 

The  religious  leader  who  has  followed  only  the  traditional 
theological  curriculum  cannot  understand  the  modern  man  of 
scientific  training  and  cannot  himself  be  understood  by  modern 
men;  they  live  in  different  worlds  of  thought;  they  speak  a 
different  language.  If  a  spiritual  guide  really  desires  to 
become  intelligible  to  the  men  of  our  age,  he  cannot  do  better 
than  to  put  himself  through  as  thorough  a  course  of  study  as 
possible  in  the  fundamental' principles  of  biology,  psychology, 
the  evolution  of  animals  and  man,  early  culture  history, 
anthropology,  the  evolution  of  morals  and  religion. 

Literature. — Fairbanks,  Introduction  to  Sociology  (New  York: 
Scribner,  1896);  F.  H.  Giddings,  Principles  of  Sociology  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  1896)  and  Elements  of  Sociology  (New  York:  Macmillan, 
1898);  W.  T.  Sumner,  Folkways  (with  fine  bibliography)  (Boston: 
Ginn  &  Co.,  1907);  W.  I.  Thomas,  Source  Book  for  Social  Origins  (cita- 
tions of  sources  and  authorities)  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago 
Press,  1909);  *L.  T.  Hobhouse,  Morals  in  Evolution  (New  York: 
Henry  Hoh  &  Co.,  1906);  E.  Westermarck,  The  Origin  and  Development 
of  the  Moral  Ideas  (London:  Macmillan,  1894);  W.  Bagehot,  Physics 
and  Politics  (New  York:  Appleton,  1875,  1906);  W.  E.  H.  Lecky, 
History  of  European  Morals  (New  York:  Appleton,  1869;  3d  ed.,  1906); 
JohnhuhhockjOrigin  of  Civilization,  5th  ed.  (New  York:  Appleton,  1892), 
and  Prehistoric  Times,  sth  ed.  (New  York:  Appleton,  1892);  H.  S. 
Maine,  Ancient  Law  (London:  Murray,  1861,  1909)  and  Village  Com- 
munities in  the  East  and  West  (London:  Murray,  1871,  1890);  Herbert 
Spencer,  The  Study  of  Sociology  (London:  Williams  &  Norgate,  1880) 
and  Principles  of  Sociology  (London:  Williams  &  Norgate,  1882-85); 
E.  B.  Tylor,  Primitive  Culture,  3d  ed.  (New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co., 
1889),  and  Researches  into  the  Early  History  of  Mankind  (London:  Mur- 
ray, 1870). 

The  importance  of  historical  knowledge. — ^There  is  another 
scientific  discipline  which  is  necessary  to  attain  a  sane  view 
of  contemporary  problems — -the  study  of  history,  the  history 
of  institutions,  and  the  history  of  reflective  thought  about 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  691 

institutions  and  experiences.  Thus  there  is  a  history  of 
industry  and  commerce,  of  political  organization  and  law,  of 
art  and  literature,  of  domestic  life,  of  religion  and  ecclesiastical 
forms.  There  is  also  a  history  of  the  theories  of  economics, 
politics,  ethics,  dogma,  and  ceremonies,  of  science,  inventions, 
arts. 

The  great  advantage  of  the  evolutionary  conception  is  that 
it  tends  to  produce  a  chastened  hopefulness,  prepares  the 
mind  for  inevitable  changes,  and  curbs  immoderate  haste  and 
mob  fury.  Short  views  of  social  conditions  paralyze  effort, 
because  the  mind  has  no  help  from  a  survey  of  the  long  road 
upward  which  humanity  has  already  traveled,  and  of  the 
achievements  of  the  human  intellect  and  will  in  spite  of 
innumerable  blunders  and  crimes. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  study  of  evolution  steadies  the  mind 
and  checks  animal  and  savage  impulse  by  revealing  the  power 
of  habit  and  custom,  the  inertia  of  institutions  once  estab- 
lished, the  necessity  of  making  new  adjustments,  both  external 
and  internal,  before  a  new  system  can  be  made  to  work. 

Take  for  example  the  questions  which  just  now  are  so  diffi- 
cult to  discuss  with  philosophic  calm  and  clear  vision:  those 
relating  to  the  control  of  industry  and  commerce.  The  pas- 
sion which  formerly  made  the  discussion  of  theology  and 
poHtics  so  spectacular  has  died  down;  the  partisan  instincts  of 
mobs  now  concentrate  upon  the  mastery  of  the  instruments 
of  production — land,  machines,  railways,  telegraphs,  banks. 
Never  was  self-possession  and  freedom  from  prejudice  so 
necessary  to  avert  shipwreck;  never  was  it  so  difficult  as  now 
to  be  just  to  antagonists.  The  evolutionary  conception  may 
become  general  enough  to  help  us  past  the  rocks  and  shoals 
which  now  seem  so  ominous. 

The  conservatives  who  now  control  society's  capital  and 
direct  it  are  partly  right  in  declaring  that  their  services  are 
useful  and  necessary;  that  the  people  have  not  yet  developed 
that  degree  of  intelligence,  morality,  loyalty,  and  skill  in 


692        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

government  which  is  necessary  for  the  management  of  great 
industries  through  elected  representatives  on  salary. 

But  the  conservatives  often  err  in  supposing  that  the 
capitahst-manager  system  is  ancient  and  eternal,  for  it  is 
neither;  it  is  recent  in  origin,  is  being  rapidly  transformed, 
is  even  now  competing  with  both  hand  industries  and  public 
industries,  and  Utopians  see  signs  of  its  gradually  going  into 
the  hands  of  receivers.  A  genuinely  evolutionary  view  would 
modify  much  of  the  dogmatism  which  is  far  too  prevalent 
in  industrial  disputes. 

The  main  aspects  of  the  development  of  industry  and 
commerce. — It  is  impossible  to  interpret  the  religious  life 
and  thought  of  the  Hebrew  people  and  primitive  Christians 
without  a  careful  study  of  the  stages  of  development;  so 
it  is  equally  impossible  to  understand  the  capitalist-manager 
system  of  our  age  without  keeping  before  our  minds  the  ante- 
cedent forms  of  industry  out  of  which  our  system  has  grown. 
The  studies  of  Schmoller,  Grundriss  der  allgemeinen  Volkswirt- 
schaftslehre  (Leipzig:  Duncker  und  Humblot,  1900-1904); 
Biicher,  Die  Entstehung  der  Volkswirtschaft,  8th  ed.  (Tubin- 
gen: Laupp,  19 10);  Sombart,  e.g.,  Der  moderne  Kapitalismus 
(Leipzig:  Duncker  und  Humblot,  1902;  English  translation, 
The  Quintessence  of  Capital  [New  York:  E.  P.  Button  &  Co., 
19 1 5]),  and  Sozialismus  undsoziale  Bewegung  im  ig  Jahrhundert 
(Jena:  Fischer,  1896;  English  translation,  Socialism  and  the 
Social  Movement  [New  York:  Putnam,  1898]),  and  other  recent 
economists  enable  us  to  present  this  evolution  in  its  essential 
features  with  a  high  degree  of  certainty  and  clearness.  Think- 
ing chiefly  of  European  and  American  history,  we  are  able  to 
discover  the  following  stages: 

a)  Primitive  industrial  conditions. — First  on  the  horizon 
of  our  knowledge  are  the  pastoral  groups  setthng  down  to 
agriculture,  each  man  cultivating  the  soil  and  producing  only 
what  his  own  household  requires,  with  no  excess  product 
for  the  market.  The  individual  householder  belongs  to  a 
village  community  and  later  passes  under  the  protection  and 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  693 

control  of  a  feudal  landlord.  Princes,  bishops,  and  knights 
have  large  domains,  but  also  live  on  what  their  estates,  with 
contributions  from  vassals,  can  produce.  All  live  near  the 
edge  of  starvation,  and  in  times  of  scarcity  the  mortality 
from  famine  and  disease  is  high.  Capital  is  small.  The 
villagers  are  exposed  to  the  exactions  of  nobles,  with  some 
protection  from  the  village  organization;  and  the  struggles 
of  classes  begin  in  the  resistance  of  peasants  to  exploitation  by 
their  social  superiors. 

b)  Mediaeval  industry  and  trade. — ^During  the  early 
mediaeval  period  the  rise  of  towns  and  cities  offers  a  new 
starting-point  of  industrial,  political,  and  moral  development. 
With  improved  methods  of  agriculture  and  stock-breeding, 
with  better  roads  and  boats,  the  surplus  product  of  the  fields 
finds  a  local  market  in  towns  in  exchange  for  the  manufactured 
commodities  made  by  the  craftsmen.  Only  in  articles  of 
luxury,  such  as  spices  and  jewels,  is  there  trade  with  distant 
regions.  Bulky  articles  cannot  be  transported  far.  Pro- 
ducers and  consumers  are  personal  acquaintances,  and  each 
man  has  his  customers.  Slowly  a  few  men  of  higher  ability 
and  enterprise  accumulate  capital,  undertake  larger  con- 
tracts, employ  money  in  exchange  instead  of  barter.  Popu- 
lation becomes  more  dense;  division  of  labor  is  necessary; 
social  classes  are  differentiated;  conflicts  arise  over  divi- 
sion of  profits,  use  of  markets,  taxes  and  tributes,  guild 
regulations. 

c)  The  downfall  of  feudalism. — ^From  the  fifteenth  to  the 
eighteenth  century  the  middle-sized  states  and  the  modern 
great  nations  emerge  under  the  royal  houses,  as  in  Germany, 
France,  Spain,  England.  The  feudal  lords  and  the  church  are 
held  responsible  to  kings;  the  supremacy  of  the  papacy  is 
weakened  and  falls;  capital  funds  are  enlarged  and  the  con- 
centration of  wealth  and  trade  in  a  few  hands  becomes  more 
frequent  and  manifest;  new  trades  arise  to  meet  new  wants; 
the  Reformation  transforms  the  political  and  spiritual  direc- 
tion of  society. 


694        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

d)  Modern  industrial  conditions. — With  the  colonial  policies 
following  the  discovery  of  sea  routes  to  India  and  America 
trade  becomes  world-wide;  the  village  market  widens  into  an 
intercontinental  market;  the  vast  new  enterprises  require 
greater  capital,  larger  numbers  of  workmen  under  one 
management,  joint-stock  corporations  with  limited  liability, 
division  of  labor,  increased  use  of  machinery.  The  invention 
of  the  steam  engine  still  further  calls  for  more  compact  popu- 
lation, larger  masses  of  capital,  more  stringent  regulation  and 
discipline  of  labor.  The  industrial  commander  whose  energy 
and  ability,  rather  than  refinement  and  humanity,  give  him 
first  place  becomes  ascendant,  while  priests,  scholars,  and 
feudal  nobility  retreat  into  the  background.  The  last 
word  of  the  eighteenth  century  is  freedom  and  individualism; 
and  with  free  trade  and  free  competition  the  business  man 
becomes  a  prince,  capital  becomes  colossal,  trade  unions  are 
fought  to  their  death,  legal  protection  is  opposed  tooth  and 
claw,  and  monstrous  cruelties,  with  the  degradation  of  work- 
ing people,  at  last  shock  and  alarm  the  nations  and  awaken 
a  social  conscience.  The  reaction  sets  in  about  i860  with  an 
assertion  of  the  moral  duty  of  the  state  to  all  its  citizens. 
Over  against  the  huge  corporations  with  their  vast  financial 
and  political  dominion  rise  the  national  federations  of  labor, 
the  extension  of  the  suffrage,  the  increased  poHtical power  of  the 
wage-earners,  and  the  international  organization  of  socialism. 
We  now  live  in  the  midst  of  a  transformation  more  significant 
than  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  the  rise  of  modern  nation- 
alities, or  the  Reformation.  We  cannot  yet  see  clearly  for 
the  smoke  of  battle,  our  nearness  to  the  contestants,  and  our 
personal  participation  in  the  passions  of  the  conflict. 

The  church  and  modem  industrialism. — The  church  itself, 
once  mistress  of  empires,  is  stripped  of  all  authority  and  is 
reduced  to  a  voluntary  association  protected  by  the  state; 
its  claim  to  infallibility  is  disowned.  The  problem  is  alto- 
gether new  and  the  revolution  finds  ecclesiastical  leaders  con- 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  695 

fused  and  unprepared.  They  go  out  with  ancient  bows  and 
arrows  to  resist  rapid-firing  fieldpieces  and  titanic  cannon; 
their  mediaeval  commands  are  mocked  ahke  by  masters  and 
men.  The  movement  sweeps  along  as  if  the  clergy  did  not 
exist.  The  echoes  of  ancient  creeds  sound  hollow  and  faint  in 
the  roar  of  the  contemporary  struggle  of  interests.  And 
yet  the  church  carries  in-  its  traditions  and  its  heart  the  only 
principle  which  can  assure  the  future  of  mankind,  if  only  its 
prophets  learn  in  time  how  to  interpret  and  apply  it  to  the 
problems  of  our  own  age. 

The  need  of  historical  perspective. — There  are  radicals 
who  still  think  in  terms  of  magic  and  miracle,  and  who  make 
their  dupes  believe  that  by  some  universal  strike  or  other 
"direct  action"  the  world  will  be  made  over  in  a  few  hours. 
They  are  like  a  band  of  Chinese  pirates  who  stole  a  complicated 
and  costly  electric  machine  from  a  railway  station  in  Kwang- 
tung  Province  and  then  did  not  know  how  to  make  it  function. 
If  the  I.W.W.  could  by  some  cataclysm  take  possession 
tomorrow  of  all  the  mines,  mills,  and  railways  of  the  country, 
would  they  be  able  to  use  them  to  advantage,  or  at  all  ? 
Those  whose  mode  of  thought  is  evolutionary  are  convinced 
that  democracy  has  come  to  stay,  but  that  it  has  much  to 
learn;  that  boys  cannot  do  the  work  of  men,  nor  crowds 
of  turbulent  "reds,"  trained  to  destroy  machinery,  be  long 
trusted  with  its  direction.  It  is  true,  the  alternative  is  some- 
times provoking — paying  a  few  "Napoleons  of  finance" 
fabulous  sums  for  their  as  yet  indispensable  services,  while 
submitting  to  their  taunts  that  it  is  all  their  own  "pri- 
vate business,"  into  which  the  public  has  no  concern  nor 
right  to  intrude.  The  only  possible  mode  of  avoiding  tragic 
conflict  under  these  conditions  of  passion  and  prejudice 
arrayed  against  passion  and  prejudice  is  to  cultivate  the 
historic  sense. 

Literature. — See  the  bibliography  in  chap,  viii,  p.  473;  also  on 
pp.  708  and  709  of  this  chapter. 


696        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  evolution  of  ideas  and  ideals. — Not  only  industry 
and  commerce  but  all  other  activities  of  mankind  are  in  this 
life-current  of  evolution  and  should  be  studied  in  the  same 
spirit.  There  is  a  measure  of  truth  in  the  "economic  inter- 
pretation of  history,"  which  finds  in  the  modifications  of  the 
industrial  organization  the  clue  to  changes  in  art,  science, 
morals,  religion,  philosophy;  but  this  interpretation  is  inade- 
quate. Physical  changes  do  affect  thinking,  but  constant 
experience  and  common-sense  reveal  the  other  side  of  reality: 
we  men  modify  things  by  thinking  and  by  action.  The 
capitalistic  system  is  a  mode  of  belief,  and  if  socialism  ever 
dominates  the  world  it  will  be  because  men  have  thought 
upon  it,  imagined  it,  resolved  to  have  it,  and  voted  it.  It 
is  amusing  to  see  the  immense  energy  of  the  leaders  of  the 
"materialistic"  school  who  teach  fatalism  and  practice 
idealism  with  all  their  might. 

We  must  be  content  in  this  scant  sketch  barely  to  indi- 
cate various  aspects  of  the  evolution  of  man's  spiritual 
life  which  are  so  amply  and  ably  treated  in  competent  works 
on  the  history  of  the  evolution  of  the  sciences,  of  the  techni- 
cal inventions  and  processes,  of  the  fine  arts,  of  ethics,  of 
religion,  of  theology,  and  of  philosophy.  The  domestic, 
educational,  political,  and  professional  institutions  have 
passed  through  various  stages,  and  each  change  in  all  de- 
partments of  thought  or  action  has  set  up  profound  changes 
in  all  directions. 

We  have  already  touched  upon  the  evolution  of  Chris- 
tianity itself,  of  its  ideas,  teachings,  organization,  adminis- 
tration in  the  church.  This  course  of  development  ran 
parallel  with  that  of  art,  politics,  science,  industry,  law,  and 
there  has  been  constant  interaction  and  reciprocal  influence 
among  all  the  movements  of  the  human  spirit.  Culture 
history  ought  not  to  be  conceived  as  an  evolution  outside  the 
will  of  humanity,  but  as  the  very  deed  of  humanity.     Events 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  697 

do  not  happen;    they  are  made,  and  made  by  the  human 

will. 

Literature. — Suggestive  hints  are  found  in  Windelband,  History  of 
Philosophy  (translation  by  J.  H.  Tufts,  New  York,  Macmillan,  1901); 
Eucken,  Die  Lehensanschauimgen  der  grossen  Denker  (Leipzig:  Veit, 
1890;  5th  ed.,  1904;  English  translation  by  Hough  and  Gibson,  The 
Problem  of  Human  Life  [New  York:  Scribner,  1909]);  Spencer,  Prin- 
ciples of  Sociology  (London:  Williams  &  Norgate,  1882-85);  Compayre, 
Histoire  critique  dcs  doctrines  de  I'education  en  France  depuis  le  seizieme 
siecle  (Paris:  Hachette,  1879;  English  translation  by  Payne,  The 
History  of  Pedagogy  [Boston:   D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  1886;  2d  ed.,  1907]). 

Evolution  of  poor  relief. — Christianity  is  essentially 
charity  in  the  deepest,  finest,  and  most  real  meaning.  The 
first  organization  of  the  churches  provided  for  relief  of 
the  distressed,  widows,  and  orphans;  and  this  function  of  the 
churches  has  never  been  abandoned,  though  it  has  often 
been  perverted.  In  the  simple  life  of  the  small  primitive  con- 
gregations the  faithful  brought  their  offerings  of  money  or 
commodities  and  laid  them  before  the  bishops  for  distribution; 
and  both  men  and  women  were  appointed  to  assist  the  elders 
in  the  administration.  The  officers  became  more  numerous 
and  specialized  with  the  growth  of  the  church.  In  Greece 
and  Italy  the  churches  took  on  the  form  of  associations  which 
were  protected  by  law  and  which,  in  addition  to  regular 
membership  fees,  had  an  established  custom  of  offering  gifts 
for  the  poor  in  connection  with  worship.  To  the  "love 
feasts"  the  indigent  were  invited  and  there  satisfied  their 
hunger.  With  the  cessation  of  heathen  persecutions,  the 
recognition  of  Christianity  as  the  state  religion,  the  increase 
of  war  and  poverty,  the  acquisition  of  estates  and  enormous 
incomes,  the  principles  and  methods  of  relief  changed.  Alms- 
giving was  often  impulsive  and  without  method,  and  the 
largesses  of  bishops  often  encouraged  mendicancy  without 
preventing  suffering.  The  causes  of  misery  were  too  deep  and 
powerful  to  be  cured  with  doles,  and  the  church  had  no  policy 


698        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

of  prevention.  The  belief  in  the  merit  of  almsgiving  without 
regard  to  its  effects  on  the  poor  became  popular.  Hospices, 
hospitals,  monasteries,  and  orders  gradually  took  the  place  of 
the  congregational  and  personal-relief  system  of  the  early 
church.  The  road  to  the  church  door  was  the  resort  of 
beggars.  Ignorance  of  medical  science  made  the  devotion  of 
merciful  Christians  impotent  to  stay  the  pestilence,  heal  the 
leper,  and  restore  reason  to  the  insane.  The  history  of 
mediaeval  charity  is  a  tragedy  of  errors,  a  record  of  super- 
stition, but  also  a  sublime  revelation  of  consecration  and 
mercy  struggling  in  the  dark.  With  the  rise  of  commerce  and 
free  cities  in  the  twelfth  century  and  later  the  merchant  class 
rose  in  influence  and  gradually  transferred  the  direction  of 
relief  from  the  clergy  to  the  laity,  this  tendency  being  more 
marked  in  Northern  Europe.  The  Lutheran  Reformation  did 
not  improve  methods  of  relief;  wars  and  theological  con- 
troversies paralyzed  the  hopeful  beginning  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  Calvinistic  churches  developed  ecclesiastical 
and  civil  relief,  while  England  (in  1601)  established  the  first 
poor  law,  on  the  principle  that  the  entire  Christian  nation 
ought  to  combine  for  the  relief  of  its  weakest  member;  and 
this  principle  is  shaping  the  policies  of  all  modern  nations. 
The  Humanism  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  the  ''Illumina- 
tion" of  the  eighteenth  century  went  beyond  Lutheranism 
and  Calvinism  in  demanding  that  religion  should  carry  the 
torch  of  science  to  Ught  the  dark  ways  of  struggling  humanity. 
In  modern  times  that  regard  for  the  lowly  which  once  was 
limited  to  feeble  little  conventicles  has  become  the  accepted 
obhgation  of  all  the  mightiest  governments  of  the  earth.  The 
charity  of  churches  and  of  voluntary  associations  is  still  pre- 
cious and  necessary  but  in  the  main  auxiliary  to  the  institu- 
tions of  the  commonwealth. 

The  development  of  modem  social-political  ideals. — 
Gradually,  since  the  Reformation,  "social  poHtics"  has 
been  differentiated  from  poor  relief;    friendship  and  justice 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS-  699 

now  aim  rather  to  prevent  misery  than  to  palliate  it,  and  to 
make  men  self-supporting  rather  than  to  cultivate  helpless, 
whining  parasites  and  beggars. 

Christianity,  though  it  did  not  absolutely  create  something 
out  of  nothing,  published  and  developed  in  the  world  finer 
and  higher  notions  of  the  value  of  personality,  the  dignity 
of  sonship  in  God,  the  reality  of  brotherhood  in  the  human 
race.  Local  sympathy  gained  a  cosmopolitan  character.  The 
physical  world  and  the  glory  of  empire  would  vanish  in  flame 
and  earthquake,  but  God  and  the  soul  were  imperishable. 
Such  ideas  as  these,  with  a  gospel  of  redemption  and  hope,  took 
captive  the  rude  but  vigorous  and  conquering  barbarians. 
Augustine  gathered  up  in  a  great  system  of  theology  the 
ideas  of  Christianity,  neo-Platonism,  Origen,  and  Plotinus, 
and  provided  a  philosophy  for  the  church. 

Arabian  physicians  of  the  Middle  Ages  became  acquainted 
with  the  natural  science  of  Aristotle  and  other  Greek  phi- 
losophers. The  contacts  of  the  Crusades  and  the  travels  of 
Jewish  merchants  brought  this  learning  to  the  scholars  of 
Europe  and  helped  the  tendency  to  study  nature  directly  and 
not  merely  by  tradition.  And  now  church  and  state  seem  to 
be  seeking  a  way,  not  of  suppressing  each  other,  but  of  serving, 
through  diverse  methods,  the  welfare  of  mankind  in  the 
partnership  of  unifying  ideals  and  scientific  procedure. 

Literature. — Uhlhom,  Die  Christliche  Liehestdtigkeit,  3  vols.  (Stutt- 
gart: Gundert,  1882-;  Vol.  I  translated  into  English  under  title,  Chris- 
tian Charity  in  the  Ancient  Church  [London:  Hamilton,  1883]),  the 
standard  book,  based  on  sources,  and  Lutheran  in  doctrine;  G.  Ratzinger, 
Geschichte  der  kirchliche  Armenpflege  (Catholic  author)  (Freiburg: 
Herder,  1884);  C.  S.  Loch,  Charity  and  Social  Life  (London:  Mac- 
millan,  1910);  *L.  Lallemand,  Histoire  de  la  Charite,  5  vols.  (Catholic) 
(Paris:  Picard,  1902-12);  C.  R.  Henderson  (editor),  Modern  Methods  of 
Charity  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1904). 

3.   PERSONAL  PREPARATION  FOR  LEADERSHIP  IN  SOCIAL  SERVICE 

Education  in  the  social  sciences. — In  the  high  school. — ■ 
If  the  studies  of  childhood  and  youth  could  be  directed  with 


700        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

reference  to  large  and  effective  co-operation  for  service  of  the 
community,  they  would  certainly  include  some  acquaintance 
with  the  French  and  German  languages,  in  addition  to  Eng- 
lish, as  necessary  tools  of  knowledge  and  vehicles  of  com- 
munication. The  usual  elementary  subjects  should  include 
a  great  deal  of  ''nature-study"  and  familiarity  with  the  pic- 
tured life  of  primitive  peoples.  In  the  secondary  school  it  is 
not  too  much  to  ask  for  an  introduction  to  biology  and  the 
elements  of  personal,  domestic,  and  industrial  hygiene,  the 
history  of  the  United  States  and  its  political  institutions,  and 
the  service  rendered  by  the  local  and  general  governments. 
Books  and  articles  in  German  and  French  should  be  read  on 
these  subjects,  and  interesting  knowledge  should  be  obtained 
by  young  persons  through  these  languages.  The  well-trained 
teachers  will  be  able  to  apply  mathematics  to  simple  statistical 
surveys  of  the  neighborhood;  friendly  activities,  guided 
by  experts,  will  keep  alive  social  sympathies;  and  provision 
for  practical  expression  of  ethical  convictions  and  emotion 
should  be  made  in  high  school  and  church  school  for  adoles- 
cents. The  Bible  should  be  studied  as  the  record  of  a  life- 
process  and  as  a  stimulus  to  altruistic  endeavor. 

Literature. — See  the  article  of  J.  M.  Gillette,  American  Journal  of 
Sociology,  January,  1914,  on  "Social  Studies  in  Elementary  Schools." 

In  the  college  and  university. — In  college  the  candidate 
for  the  ministry  and  for  religious  service  should  be  kept  in 
constant  contact  with  social  movements,  both  in  his  studies 
and  in  his  activities.  The  development  of  character  depends 
quite  as  much  on  habits  of  unselfish  service  as  on  the  precepts 
of  morahty,  the  exhortations  of  the  preacher,  and  habits  of 
worship.  Nothing  is  said  here  of  mathematics  and  Hterature, 
the  high  value  of  which  is  assumed.  The  studies  which  pre- 
pare most  directly  for  social  leadership  are  physiography, 
geography,  history,  statistics  (as  a  necessary  tool  of  all  the 
sciences),  a  survey  of  the  whole  field  of  the  social  sciences. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  701 

biology,  psychology,  economics,  political  science,  general 
sociology,  ethics,  history  of  philosophy,  logic,  and  a  study 
of  selected  problems  of  social  amelioration  accompanied  by 
wisely  supervised  participation  in  some  forms  of  service. 
Such  a  course  would  establish  habits  of  keen  observation, 
induction,  discovery  of  causes,  forming  of  judgments,  interest 
in  general  welfare.  In  the  Senior  year  of  college  and  during 
the  years  of  graduate  study  the  candidate  for  social  leader- 
ship in  the  church  should  take  up  more  specialized  subjects. 
Church  history,  biblical  study,  pastoral  duties,  and  religious 
education  may  be  closely  correlated  with  social  science.  In 
the  study  of  theology  and  the  Bible  the  social  motive  and 
ideals  will  be  made  clear  and  potent;  in  the  study  of  church 
history  the  evolution  of  Christian  life  in  relation  to  law, 
government,  poor  relief,  social  politics,  slavery,  domestic 
conduct,  customs,  education,  etc.,  ought  to  find  a  large  place, 
while  time  could  be  saved  by  passing  over  the  study  of  dead 
controversies  about  creed  and  ceremonies.  The  problems  of 
social  surveys,  statistical  investigations,  the  amelioration 
of  conditions  in  cities  and  rural  neighborhoods,  the  care 
of  immigrants,  and  social  service  in  foreign  fields  should  find 
a  place.  On  the  basis  of  previous  studies  of  elementary 
economics,  politics,  and  law  the  fields  of  social  poHtics,  labor 
legislation,  trade  unionism,  and  socialism  should  receive 
attention.  The  most  vital  principles  of  poor  relief  and 
of  the  social  treatment  of  the  anti-social  class  should  be 
familiar. 

Curriculum  of  social  sciences. — We  here  present  a  curricu- 
lum drawn  up  by  Professor  L.  C.  Marshall,  with  a  schematic 
diagram  of  some  of  the  courses  actually  offered  and  taught 
in  several  universities  of  large  equipment.  Many  of  the  fun- 
damental courses  are  given  in  well-equipped  colleges  or  even 
in  secondary  schools. 

The  accompanying  diagram  serves  to  outline  in  a  broad  way  the 
organization  of  studies  in  preparation  for  philanthropic  service.     The 


702        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

first  aim  (see  diagram)  is  to  secure  for  the  student  a  broad  cultural 
foundation  in  the  main  divisions  of  human  knowledge.  Above  this 
foundation  is  placed  a  broad  survey  of  the  social  sciences.  In  these 
social-science  survey  courses  the  future  business  man,  the  future  social 
worker,  the  future  civil  servant,  and  the  future  teacher  and  investigator 
in  the  various  social-science  departments  will  be  led  to  appreciate  the 
relationships  of  their  future  specialized  tasks  to  the  operations  of  the  rest 
of  organized  society.  Even  after  the  social-science  survey  has  been  com- 
pleted narrow  specialization  may  not  occur.  The  work  of  the  third 
year  consists  of  basic  semi-cultural,  semi-professional  courses  designed  to 
give  the  student  a  clearer  appreciation  of  the  organization  of  modem 
society  than  was  possible  in  the  social-science  survey.  The  academic 
spirit  (using  this  expression  in  the  objectionable  sense)  is  guarded  against 
by  introducing  a  considerable  amount  of  contact  with  actual  conditions, 
by  lectures  on  technical  matters  by  outside  experts,  by  instruction 
through  the  case-method  as  far  as  is  at  present  possible,  and  by  requiring 
that  the  equivalent  of  at  least  three  months  shall  be  spent  in  actual 
service.  The  final  stage  is  the  distinctly  professional  work,  partly  of 
undergraduate,  partly  of  graduate  grade,  in  which  the  student  cultivates 
intensively  his  own  special  field.  The  student  who  has  traversed  these 
stages  should  go  out  with  some  idea  of  social  needs,  with  some  zeal  for 
serving  those  needs,  with  some  appreciation  of  the  rights,  the  privileges, 
and  the  obligations  of  other  members  of  society,  and  with  training  which 
should  enable  him  to  do  his  work  efficiently. 

In  the  administration  of  the  work  of  the  School  of  Commerce  and 
Administration  of  the  University  of  Chicago  the  following  features  are 
significant: 
I.  The  work  is  organized  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  technical  or  pro- 
fessional work  should  rest  upon  a  broad  foundation  of  work  in 
biology,  psychology,  history,  political  economy,  sociology,  law,  and 
government.     FuU  preparation  accordingly  contemplates  at  least 
one  year  of  graduate  work  over  and  above  a  properly  selected  under- 
graduate curriculum. 
II.  There  is  no  general  or  machine  curriculum  in  either  the  under- 
graduate or  the  graduate  work  in  this  School.     Each  student's 
course  is  a  matter  of  personal  adjustment  and  depends  upon  previ- 
ous training,  present  aptitudes,  and  expected  future  occupation. 
III.  The  equivalent  of  at  least  three  months  of  field  work  must  either 
precede  or  accompany  the  technical  or  professional  work. 
[The  diagram  is  to  be  read  upward  from  the  foundation  to  the 
specialized  courses  at  the  summit.] 


THE  SEMINAR:    OPE 

1         p-L 

S             1 

1 

v: 

X               11 

c 
c 

c 

Industrial 

Ubor  Arr 

Trade  U 

F 

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H 

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c 

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J  11     11  LJ^     - 

■"  V  V  n 

The  Social  Science  Survey.     Tl 


Foundation.     This  includes  the 
Composition  and  Literature, 


DIAGRAM  OF  COURSES  AVAILABLE   IN   PREPARATION  FOR   PHILANTHROPIC  SERVICE 


I 


THE  SEMINAR:    01 


P 


WTO  STUDENTS  SATISFACTORILY  PREPARED  IN  ONE  OR  MORE  OF  THE  FIELDS  INDICA 


T 


0 

I 


I 


T 


I 


I 


i 


I 


I 


I5 


TED  BELOW 


Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Society.        This  is  characteristically  a  second-year  course. 


I 


1 


X 


The  Social  Science  Survey.     This  work  is  generally  taken  in  the  first  and  secord  years-  of    college.     It  includes  Psychology,  Political    Science^  Political  Economy,  Ethics,  and  History. 


Foiirth 
year 

and 

Graduate 
work 


Foundation.     This  includes  the  work  of  the  high  school,  the  first  year  and  part  of  the  second  year  in   college.     Certain  minimum  requirements  in  (1)  English 
Composition  and  Literature,  (2)  Mathematics,  (3)  the  Physical  and   Biological  Sciences,  (4)  the  Social    Sciences,  and  (5)  Modem  Language  must  be  met. 


Third  year 
College  work 


I  High 
'  School 
and 
Junior 
College 
1  work 


./^^. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  703 

At  first  sight  this  scheme  of  courses  seems  to  bewilder 
and  discourage.  More  careful  study  and  inquiry  of  compe- 
tent instructors  will  make  it  clear  that  there  is  a  progressive 
movement  from  the  elementary  and  broadly  fundamental 
studies  to  those  which  are  special  and  professional,  intended 
for  advanced  students  who  seek  to  fit  themselves  for  some 
form  of  public  service.  The  young  student  cannot  make  a 
wise  selection  without  personal  advice.  The  courses  chosen 
should  be  carefully  arranged  in  a  series  for  each  student,  so 
that  he  will  become  a  master  of  some  branches  while  gaining 
a  broad  general  view  of  the  relations  of  sciences  and  of  life- 
callings  and  relationships.  Without  very  careful  planning  in 
advance  the  young  person  may  scatter  his  efforts,  become  an 
intellectual  vagabond,  and  end  by  knowing  no  one  subject 
thoroughly. 

All  these  academic  studies  should  be  driven  home  by  visits 
of  observation,  carefully  planned  to  discover  methods  of 
constructive  work  rather  than  the  abnormal  and  pathological 
aspects  of  vice.  Observation  must  be  extended  by  actual 
practice  in  connection  with  well-organized  societies  for 
philanthropy  and  civic  improvement,  under  trained  and 
practical  administrators. 

Teamwork  among  professors  in  the  theological  school 
would  be  promoted  by  keeping  in  the  central  office  of  the  dean 
or  president  rather  full  syllabi  of  courses  given,  so  as  to  econo- 
mize the  teaching  force,  avoid  duplication,  and  discover 
neglected  areas.  The  indications  of  a  modem  curriculum  of 
social  science  given  above  will  show  how  various  specialists 
can  best  co-operate,  and  that  without  losing  anything  of 
independence  of  thought  or  method  of  investigation. 

IV.      ANALYSIS  AND  CLASSIFICATION  OF  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS 

Every  thinker  must  classify  social  problems,  because  they 
are  too  numerous  and  bewildering  for  orderly  discussion  until 
they  are  grouped;    but  every  thinker  is  likely  to  make  his 


704        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

own  arrangement.  We  may  deal  with  this  subject  by  means 
of  two  categories:  (i)  the  social  groups,  and  (2)  the  com- 
munity interests. 

I.      THE   SOCIAL   GROUPS 

These  are  provisionally  distinguished  as  follows:  the 
family,  the  rural  neighborhood,  the  urban  community,  the 
commonwealth,  the  nation,  the  international  conventions. 
The  church  is  the  imperfect  but  actual  and  unique  representa- 
tive of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  which  is  not  only  an  international 
but  a  universal  community,  having  yet  unrealized  ideals,  but 
having  also  actual  incorporation  in  this  earth.  The  only  part 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  we  know  is  what  we  see  in  the  present 
world . 

Within  all  these  communities  we  discover  subgroups  or 
classes  having  certain  likenesses,  needs,  and  interests,  such  as 
the  abnormals,  the  defectives,  the  anti-social — all  of  them  sub- 
social,  and  in  various  degrees  "ahenated"  from  normal  social 
relations  and  activities,  and  requiring  from  normal  society 
special  modes  of  treatment,  each  with  its  technique. 

The  minister  is  not  and  cannot  be  a  specialist  in  social 
science  if  he  does  his  duty  as  a  pastor.  He  will  not  be  master 
of  any  particular  department  of  public  service.  His  youth- 
ful studies  in  this  field  must  therefore  be  limited  to  the  funda- 
mental sciences,  to  the  broad  surveys,  and  to  one  or  two 
fields  of  practice  which  will  give  him  methods  of  observation 
and  judgment.  To  secure  this  preparation,  begun  in  the  high 
school,  he  need  not  neglect  the  essential  disciplines  of  the 
divinity  school.  In  the  best  schools  of  theology  time  is 
conserved  by  pruning  off  minute  investigations  of  dead  issues 
which  this  age  has  no  time  to  discuss. 

The  training  of  social  workers. — But  the  minister  is  not 
the  only  Christian  leader  in  whose  education  the  Christian 
community  is  interested.  If  the  church  is  to  be  counted  as  a 
force  and  an  assistant  in  the  modern  world,  it  must  recognize 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  705 

the  variety  of  gifts,  talents,  and  professions  through  which 
the  Spirit  reveals  God  to  man  and  builds  up  the  Kingdom 
(Rom.,  chap'.  12;  I  Cor.,  chap.  12).  We  are  providentially 
called  to  teach  and  train  Christian  young  men  and  women 
who  will  be  specialists  in  the  fields  of  public  service  and 
private  philanthropy:  teachers,  investigators,  statisticians, 
settlement  residents,  playground  and  social-center  directors, 
physical  directors,  secretaries  of  the  Y.M.C.A.,  organizers  of 
mutual-benefit  associations,  advocates  of  social  legislation, 
secretaries  for  social-welfare  work,  officers  of  prisons,  reforma- 
tories, and  institutions  for  defective  and  abnormal  persons,  etc. 

Starting  from  our  economic  system,  which  is  now  char- 
acterized by  freedom  of  contract,  legal  and  political  equality, 
private  property  secured  by  law  and  moral  beliefs,  with 
capitalistic  management  dominant,  we  come  to  the  wage- 
earning  class  of  operatives,  the  "industrial  group,"  with  its 
own  needs,  interests,  ideals,  aspirations,  and  demands. 

A  rudimentary  class  seems  to  be  emerging  in  the  second 
crop  of  capitalist-manager  families,  the  "leisure  class,"  with 
its  own  ideals,  attitudes,  fashions,  activities,  and  modes  of 
influence. 

Literature. — See  T.  B.  Veblin,  Theory  of  the  Leisure  Classes  (New 
York:  Macmillan,  li 


2.      COMMUNITY  INTERESTS 

Associated  effort,  when  it  is  conscious  and  intelligent,  is 
directed  toward  common  ends.  Clear  thinking  and  effective 
action  depend  on  a  distinct  and  well-grounded  notion  of 
social  aims  and  ideals.  These  common  interests  are  revealed 
by  the  conduct  and  institutions  of  men;  they  manifest  their 
inward  desires  by  their  outward  deeds.  The  analysis  of  human 
motives  has  been  made  by  every  writer  on  ethics  from  Aristotle 
and  Plato  to  our  own  time.  The  two  most  elementary  inter- 
ests we  share  with  animals,  because  they  are  essential  to  the 
existence  of  human  beings — hunger  and  reproductive  impulses. 


7o6        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Sumner  adds  vanity  and  fear,  which  also  are  manifested  by 
our  humbler  fellow-creatures.  All  these  primitive  desires 
cling  to  all  men  and  cannot  be  totally  extinguished  by  the 
most  devout  ascetic  until  senility  or  the  paralysis  of  approach- 
ing death  extinguishes  the  last  flickering  flame  of  exhausted 
nature.  Hunger  and  love  may  be  regulated,  tamed,  brought 
under  legal,  moral,  and  religious  control;  but  they  persist 
because  without  them  the  very  race  would  soon  disappear. 
In  all  social  plans  these  elemental  forces  must  be  reckoned 
with. 

Literature. — For  suggestive  discussions  of  the  principles  of  social 
interests  see  A.  W.  Small,  General  Sociology  (Chicago:  The  University 
of  Chicago  Press,  1905),  and  E.  A.  Ross,  Foundations  of  Sociology 
(New  York:   MacmiUan,  1905). 

Social  regulation. — ^In  a  state  of  society  so  early  that  no 
clear  record  has  been  left  in  document  or  on  monument 
men  discovered  that  social  life  could  not  go  on  without  some 
measures  to  secure  order,  safety  of  life  and  limb,  and  the 
possession  of  property.  The  evolution  of  government,  of 
civil  and  criminal  law,  was  caused  by  this  necessity,  which  was 
even  felt  among  the  higher  animals  before  humanity  emerged. 
In  our  own  time  the  recognition  of  these  interests  has  given 
support  to  a  vast  and  complex  system  of  social  control,  direc- 
tion, and  regulation. 

Property. — In  order  to  support  individual  existence,  to 
supply  the  needs  of  offspring,  to  add  comforts  and  luxuries 
to  necessities,  to  gratify  vanity  and  desire  for  influence  and 
distinction,  men  have  combined  to  secure  commodities.  The 
acquisition  of  property  is  primarily  the  result  of  industry,  of 
applying  human  wit  and  labor  to  the  materials  and  forces 
of  nature;  but,  secondarily,  property  has  been  acquired  by 
robbery  and  war,  by  cunning  and  fraud,  by  the  mission  of 
legal  privilege  and  the  exploitation  of  slaves,  of  women,  of 
children,  of  ignorant  men.  The  economic  interest  is  at  the 
root  of  all  industries,  trades,  commerce,  and  finance,  however 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  707 

complex  these  may  become.  Business  has  become  an  end  for 
its  own  sake,  the  ultimate  ends  of  life  being  forgotten  in  the 
eagerness  of  the  pursuit,  and  thus  wealth  has  in  a  measure  lost 
connection  with  welfare,  and  the  devotion  to  money  has 
become  idolatry. 

Culture  interests. — Culture  interests  are  those  which 
distinguish  civilized  men  from  the  lower  animals  and  from 
savage  races.  It  is  true  that  some  law  of  beauty,  goodness, 
and  religion  may  be  found  in  animals  and  in  the  lower  races 
of  mankind,  for  in  the  process  of  evolution  there  is  no  violent 
break  with  the  past  at  any  point.  The  spiritual  not  only 
arises  after  the  natural  but  gradually  and  imperceptibly  out  of 
the  natural,  as  the  flower  out  of  the  growing  plant.  But  as  dis- 
tinctly characteristic  and  differentiated  interests,  art,  science, 
morality,  poHtics,  and  religion  are  achievements  of  the  human 
spirit,  and  to  these  goods  of  civilization  contributions  have 
been  made  from  the  dawn  of  human  consciousness.  Here  and 
there  a  man  of  genius  has  added  something  conspicuous  and 
remarkable  to  these  higher  possessions,  and  the  gift  of  his 
soul  has  become  his  monument.  But  inventions,  languages, 
faiths,  beautiful  lines  and  forms,  proverbs,  folk-lore,  moraHties, 
legal  conceptions,  are  far  more  the  result  of  the  universal 
activities  of  humble  and  nameless  human  beings  than  of 
distinguished  and  famous  leaders.  The  desires  for  these 
higher  satisfactions  become  motives  to  social  effort.  Men 
combine  in  many  ways  to  secure  them,  as  in  musical  societies, 
clubs,  schools,  museum  associations,  local  and  general  govern- 
ments. The  measure  in  which  these  satisfactions  are  enjoyed 
and  the  extent  to  which  the  people  share  in  them  give  us  a 
standard  of  civilization,  a  test  of  progress.  Statistics  furnish 
us  with  a  scientific  method  of  applying  the  standard  to  the 
actual  working  of  institutions  and  laws. 

Literature. — Useful  works  on  the  scope  and  relations  of  the  social 
sciences  are:  W.  Wundt,  Logik  {Methodenlehre,  Bd.  2,  Abt.  2,  Stutt- 
gart:  Enke,  1907);   A.  W.  Small,  General  Sociology  (with  many  refer- 


7o8        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

ences)  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1905);  L.  F.  Ward, 
Outlines  oj  Sociology  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1898);  K.  Menger, 
Methode  der  Sozialwissenschajten  (Leipzig:  Duncker  und  Humblot,  1883); 
*Dietzel,  Theoretische  Sozialokonomik,  I,  4  (Leipzig:  Winter,  1895); 
*E.  A.  Ross,  Foundations  of  Sociology  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1905); 
*C.  A.  Ellwood,  Sociology  in  Its  Psychological  Aspects  (New  York:  Apple- 
ton,  191 2);  E.  S.  Bogardus,  Introduction  to  the  Social  Sciences  (Los 
Angeles:  Ralston,  1913). 

A  Guide  to  Reading  in  Social  Ethics  and  Allied  Subjects  (Cambridge: 
Harvard  University  Press,  19 10)  will  be  found  useful  here. 

The  following  economists  have  written  in  the  modern  spirit  with 
learning  and  insight  and  with  humane  purpose:  J.  S.  Mill,  Principles 
of  Political  Economy  (London:  Parker,  1848;  an  excellent  edition. 
New  York:  Appleton,  1907);  G.  SchmoUer,  Grundriss  der  allgemeinen 
Volkswirtschaftslehre  (Leipzig:  Duncker  und  Humblot,  1 900-1 904) 
(vast  bibliography  of  German  literature);  Ueber  einige  Grundfragen 
der  Socialpolitik  mid  der  Volkswirtschaftslehre  (Leipzig:  Duncker  und 
Humblot,  1904) ;  Charles  Gide;  Principles  of  Political  Economy  (Boston: 
D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  1904);  R.  T.  Ely,  Socialism  and  Social  Reform 
(New  York:  T.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co.,  1894)  and  Outlines  of  Economics 
(New  York:  Macmillan,  1908);  Henry  Rogers  Seager,  Introduction  to 
Economics,  3d  ed.  (New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1905) ;  F.  W.  Taussig, 
Principles  of  Economics  (New  York:  Macmillan,  191 1);  Alfred  Marshall, 
Principles  of  Economics,  5th  ed.,  Vol.  I  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1907); 
Thomas  Nixon  Carver,  The  Distribution  of  Wealth  (New  York:  Mac- 
millan, 1904);  Karl  Biicher,  Die  Entstekimg  der  Volkswirtschaft,  8th  ed. 
(Tubingen:  Laupp,  1910;  English  translation  by  Wickett,  Industrial 
Evolution  [New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1901]). 

Social  problems. — These  are  the  questions  w^hich  men 
put  to  practical  reason  and  science  in  regard  to  the  best 
methods  of  stimulating,  harmonizing,  and  universalizing  the 
satisfactions  of  the  social  interests.  The  desires  are  found 
in  all  human  beings;  th-e  specific  methods  of  attaining  the 
satisfactions  must  be  adapted  to  the  peculiarities  of  each  group 
in  the  nation;  and  therefore  each  stage  of  evolution,  each  dis- 
covery and  invention,  each  increase  of  population,  offers  a 
new  problem  for  solution.  The  solution  must  take  into 
account  the  particular  needs  of  each  group  in  its  relations  to 
all  other  groups  of  the  nation. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  709 

Literature. — Professor  Small  has  sketched  many  of  these  problems 
in  his  General  Sociology  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press, 
1905)  in  the  section  entitled  "Conspectus  of  Social  Achievements," 
many  of  which  are  yet  to  be  achieved. 

Social  technique. — To  increase,  universalize,  and  harmon- 
ize these  satisfactions  in  each  group  requires  a  method  or 
methods.  There  is  a  best  and  wisest  and  most  effective  way; 
it  is  the  business  of  social  science  and  statesmanship  to  discover 
this  way;  it  is  knowable,  but  never  altogether  known.  The 
causal  forces  which  explain  the  present  may  be  utilized  by 
human  intelligence  and  concerted  action  to  promote  socially 
desirable  ends.  Theoretical  social  science  culminates  in 
discovery  of  causes,  practical  social  science  in  a  foundation  of 
knowledge  for  desirable  achievements. 

So  far  as  the  technique  has  been  mastered  in  a  high  degree 
it  is  best  known  by  a  body  of  specialists  or  experts;  but 
usually  it  cannot  be  effectively  carried  into  life  without  the 
intelligent  co-operation  of  a  considerable  body  of  laymen. 
Hence  the  need  of  popular  education  in  social  science;  for 
science  simply  means  common  knowledge  made  as  compre- 
hensive, reliable,  and  systematic  as  possible,  which  is  precisely 
that  knowledge  which  is  most  effective  in  action  and  conduct. 

Literature. — Good  general  works  are:  L.  F.  Ward,  Applied  Sociology 
(Boston:  Ginn  &  Co.,  1906);  C.  A.  Ellwood,  Sociology  and  Modern 
Social  Problems  (New  York:  American  Book  Co.,  1910) ;  *C.  R.  Hender- 
son, Social  Elements  (New  York:  Scribner,  1898)  and  The  Social  Spirit 
in  America  (Chicago:  Scott,  Foresman  &  Co.,  1901)  (elementary  and 
popular  in  form);  W.  D.  P.  Bliss,  New  Encyclopedia  of  Social  Reform 
(New  York:  Funk  &  Wagnalls  Co.,  1898). 

Important  works  of  reference  are:  Handworterbuch  der  Staatswissen- 
schaften  (Jena:  Fischer,  1908-);  *Palgrave,  Dictionary  of  Political 
Economy  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1910);  Schonberg,  Handbuch  der 
politischcn  Oekonomie,  3d  ed.  (Tubingen:  Laupp,  1890);  Rubinow, 
Social  Insurance  (New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1913);  Frankel  and 
Dawson,  Workingmen^s  Insurance  in  Europe  (New  York:  Charities 
Pub.  Committee,  19 10);  Twenty-fourth  Report  United  States  Bureau 
of  Labor;   C.  R.  Henderson,  huiustrial  Insurance  in  the  United  States 


7IO        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

(Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909);  *Hart  and  Mc- 
Laughlin, Cyclopedia  of  American  Government  (New  York:  Appleton, 
1914);  American  Journal  of  Sociology  (Chicago:  The  University  of 
Chicago  Press) ;  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science  (Philadelphia). 

V.      CHRISTIANITY  IN  RELATION  TO  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS 

It  remains  to  indicate  the  service  which  the  Christian 
churches,  as  bearers  of  Christian  thought  and  ideals,  can 
render  in  the  work  of  stimulating,  universalizing,  and  harmon- 
izing these  efforts  of  the  collective  will  to  promote  human 
welfare. 

I.      THE   IDEALS   OF   THE   CHURCH 

Only  think  what  the  Christian  religion  signifies!  "God 
so  loved  the  world,"  loved  all  the  people;  as  Creator,  Father, 
Providence,  Redeemer,  Friend,  our  God,  as  Jesus  taught, 
lives  for  us.  He  gives  us  life  and  the  will  to  live;  creates 
appetites  and  desires  and  provides  for  their  satisfaction; 
and  all  he  creates  is  essentially  good.  The  divine  Spirit  is  at 
the  heart  of  all  our  arts,  sciences,  reformations,  the  very  fer- 
ment in  all  the  restless  agitation  for  improvement.  The 
demagogue  is  a  mere  caricature  of  the  evolutionary  ambitions 
which  seethe  in  human  history.  The  end  is  abundant,  rich, 
varied,  many-sided,  harmonious  life.  It  is  this  infinite,  crea- 
tive, active  divine  life  which  came  to  noblest  expression  in 
Jesus,  which  is  manifested  in  the  development  of  the  human 
spirit  and  all  its  institutions,  laws,  governments.  The 
''Kingdom  of  God"  has  a  more  splendid  aim  than  that  of 
the  conventicle  of  pietists  intent  on  saving  their  own  souls; 
a  larger  scope  than  ecclesiastical  intrigue  and  ambition.  If 
we  could  only  set  before  us  all  that  is  required  for  the  perfec- 
tion of  personality,  for  the  order  and  progress  of  the  world, 
for  the  quickening  of  intellectual  curiosity,  for  the  finest 
expl-ession  of  beauty,  for  grace  and  courtesy,  for  intellectual 
mastery  of  the  knowable  universe  through  the  sciences,  for 
harmony,  friendship,  and  worship — ^all  this  would  be  found 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  711 

at  home  within  the  idea  of  the  "Kingdom  of  God."  Inter- 
national law  has  statesmanship;  but  is  it  petty  and  provincial 
when  compared  with  the  universal  realm  opened  up  to  us  by 
the  vision  of  Jesus,  Son  of  God. 

It  is  for  this  idea  that  the  church  stands,  if  only  it  could 
realize  its  unique  and  sublime  task;  if  only  its  leaders  could 
appreciate  their  role  in  relation  to  business  and  philanthropy, 
to  artists,  explorers,  scientists,  statesmen,  philosophers,  poets. 
The  church  and  its  ministry  have  yet  to  learn  how  all-inclusive 
their  mission  is,  how  all  the  nations  must  bring  their  glory 
and  honor  into  the  city  of  God,  whether  they  will  it  or  not. 
We  have  been  exclusive,  self -centered,  when  we  might  have 
been  inclusive,  comprehensive,  catholic.  We  have  desired  to 
dominate  and  monopolize,  when  we  were  called  to  fraternal 
and  sympathetic  co-operation.  We  have  abandoned  vast 
fields  of  truth,  art,  power,  as  alien  to  our  religion,  when  we 
might  have  transformed  these  forces  and  brought  them  into 
harmony  with  the  highest  ideals  of  faith.  "All  things  are 
yours, "  yet  we  deliberately  surrendered  our  claim  and  called 
most  of  the  precious  values  of  humanity  "secular."  The 
church  is  not  outside  social  problems;  it  is  not  benefactor  or 
patron;  it  is  not  alien  to  the  world;  the  church  lives  upon 
industry,  its  children  are  born  from  natural  impulses  in  holy 
and  legal  wedlock,  its  security  is  derived  from  government  and 
law,  its  ritual  is  enriched  by  poets  and  musicians,  its  sins 
are  those  of  its  age,  its  vision  of  truth  is  widened  by  science 
and  education,  its  morality  is  the  best  custom  of  the  time,  its 
picture  of  heaven  is  composed  of  democratic  and  neighborly 
experiences  of  friendship,  its  God  is  define'd  as  Father  or  King. 
We  as  Christians  are,  like  St.  Francis,  brothers  of  the  poor 
and  even  of  the  birds,  and  we  are  here  to  co-operate  with  all 
men  of  good  will. 

Here  we  must  consider,  first,  the  possible  resources  of  the 
church  for  this  purpose;  secondly,  the  defects  of  the  church 
and  the  explanation  of  these  defects;   thirdly,  illustrations  of 


712        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

progress  i^  the  church  toward  reahzing  its  duty  and  its  oppor- 
tunity; fourthly,  the  wisest  direction  for  the  near  future. 

I.      RESOURCES   OF   THE   CHURCH 

The  greatest  book  of  Hfe  is  the  Bible,  to  whose  exposition 
the  church  is  committed,  and  whose  story  of  truth  and  faith 
is  one  of  the  chief  forces  of  history. 

The  Bible. — So  far  as  the  church  is  studying  and  teaching 
the  Bible,  in  a  truly  historic  spirit  and  method,  it  is  generating 
interest  in  human  welfare.  There-  are  two  tables  of  its  law, 
reverence  for  God  and  regard  for  man;  both  are  assimilated 
and  authorized  in  the  Golden  Rule  of  Jesus  and  illustrated 
by  his  character  and  life. 

Inspiring  personalities. — So  far  as  the  church,  under  the 
leadership  of  an  educated  ministry,  knows  its  own  history 
and  holds  before  its  children  its  heroes  and  martyrs,  its 
missionaries  and  its  philanthropists,  it  is  generating  fervor  and 
zeal  for  sinning  and  suffering  humanity.  Church  history  and 
biography  supply  a  magazine  of  ennobling  and  inspiring  per- 
sonal examples.  Church  history  is  a  precious  possession  and 
a  treasury  of  spiritual  energy. 

Literature. — Christian  literature  is  a  vast  and  fruitful 
store  of  motive  to  kindly  and  beneficent  action.  In  hymns, 
poems,  essays,  in  Dante,  Luther,  Milton,  Tennyson,  Brown- 
ing, Shakespeare,  Webster,  Macaulay — in  all  the  most 
powerful  authors  of  Christendom  there  runs  a  deep  Christian 
undertone. 

Christian  literature  is  in  a  very  high  and  true  sense  a 
continuation  of  the  Bible.  We  need  anthologies,  source- 
books, and  a  library  of  selections  with  historical  annotations. 
Much  of  the  "written  stuff"  of  the  Fathers  and  mediaeval 
theologians  does  not  deserve  the  name  of  ''literature,"  and 
the  people  have  not  time  to  read  it  nor  money  to  buy  it  nor 
houseroom  to  store  it.  Yet  it  is  a  pity  to  leave  the  jewels 
lost  in  the  mass  of  rubbish,  speculation,  and  superstition 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  713 

which  makes  up  so  much  of  the  writings  of  the  past.  Only 
when  the  real  classics  in  prose  and  verse  have  been  selected 
and  reprinted  by  competent  scholars,  in  chronological  order, 
with  historical  sequences  noted,  will  this  spiritual  inheritance 
of  the  church  come  into  its  rightful  place  of  power  and  influ- 
ence. 

But  God  has  not  left  himself  without  a  witness  in  other 
lands  of  high  culture.  India,  China,  Japan,  and  even  the 
proverbial  philosophy  of  Africa,  have  literary  monuments  of 
religion,  and  they  also  are  ours  to  use  and  enjoy. 

The  pitiful  mediocrity  of  much  contemporary  so-called 
"religious  literature,"  its  waste  and  desolation  of  miserable 
sectarian  polemics,  its  obscurantism  and  dull  platitudes, 
might  well  give  way  to  the  buried  and  forgotten  literary  treas- 
ures of  the  world. 

The  personal  influence  of  the  members  of  the  church  in 
the  home  and  throughout  the  community. — We  may  well 
count  the  personal  influence  of  the  members  of  the  church 
as  an  asset.  Discount  with  the  severest  justifiable  criticism 
the  conduct  of  Christians,  they  are  nevertheless  the  salt  of  the 
earth,  the  light  of  the  world,  though,  unfortunately,  they 
often  hide  their  lamps  under  a  bushel  and  bury  their  talents  out 
of  sight.  The  exertion  of  influence  reacts  upon  character,  and 
he  who  earnestly  endeavors  to  make  his  neighbors  better 
instinctively  criticizes  his  own  standards  and  conduct.  The 
army  of  church  members  are  citizens  and  voters,  masters  of 
assemblies,  judges  on  the  bench,  presidents  and  directors  of 
corporations,  members  of  clubs  and  associations,  and  trade- 
union  lawmakers  and  administrators;  and  this  gives  the  church 
access  to  every  legitimate  organization  of  the  nation.  Such 
a  power  is  also  a  responsibility. 

Educational  agencies. — The  educational  equipment  of 
the  churches  is  enormous.  All  the  modern  systems  of  educa- 
tion and  research  grow  out  of  ecclesiastical  institutions  of  the 
Middle  Ages.     Cap,  gown,  and  hood  are  reminders  of  the 


714        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

uniforms  of  learned  monks  of  the  ancient  days  when  clergymen 
monopolized  scholarship.  Now  we  are  on  the  way  to  the 
time  when  *'all  God's  people  will  be  prophets,"  and  democracy 
has  taken  over  education  and  made  it  universal.  But  even 
now  lay  control  does  not  imply  irreligion.  When  the  atmos- 
phere is  flooded  with  light,  no  window  can  open  without 
admitting  its  radiance;  and  while  Christianity  shines  every- 
where, it  will  not  be  excluded  from  state  institutions.  We  can 
therefore  count  practically  all  the  agencies  of  science  and 
education  among  the  resources  of  the  church.  One  may 
gain  some  idea  of  the  extent  of  these  educational  resources 
by  taking  the  statistics  from  the  report  of  the  United  States 
Commissioner  of  Education  concerning  schools,  colleges,  and 
universities  under  church  control. 

2.      DEFECTS    or   THE   CHURCH 

The  humane  impulse  of  primitive  Christianity  is  partly 
obscured  and  obstructed  by  fruitless  and  excessive  specula- 
tion without  ethical  aim;  by  war  for  domination  rather  than 
by  devotion  to  service;  by  ecclesiasticism  and  fanaticism; 
by  making  ceremony  an  end;  by  priestly  ambition;  by 
clinging  to  an  excessive  individualism  and  the  laissez-faire 
philosophy  and  practice  which  was  the  idol  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

It  is  not  agreeable  for  us  to  analyze  our  defects,  yet  it  is 
wholesome  and  necessary.  An  ancient  Greek  statesman  told 
the  people  after  a  military  defeat  that  if  they  had  done  their 
utmost  he  would  despair  of  his  country ;  but  that  they  had  not 
employed  their  best  powers,  and  that  if  they  would  rally  with 
all  energy  and  devotion  the  day  could  yet  be  saved  and 
honor  restored.  The  church  has  amazing  undeveloped  re- 
sources; its  wastes  would  furnish  capital  for  world-conquest. 
The  correction  of  its  errors  and  the  joyful  acceptance  of  its 
obligation  would  make  it  invincible.  And  therefore  the  loyal 
servants  of  the  churches  must  deal  with  themselves  critically 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  715 

and  earnestly.  Rather  than  bring  indictments  against  one 
another  let  us  searchingly  examine  ourselves  and  revise 
our  methods.  Why  should  we  not  sincerely,  earnestly,  and 
without  equivocation  bring  our  leadership  before  the  bar  of 
impartial  justice  by  asking  ourselves  such  questions  as  these: 
Have  we  concentrated  our  studies  and  sermons  on  the  essen- 
tials of  Christianity  or  have  we  lavished  energy  and  time  on 
topics  in  controversy  among  the  faithful?  If  we  should 
subordinate  sectarian  enterprises  to  the  cause  of  missions 
in  regions  which  have  never  heard  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
gospel,  would  not  millions  of  dollars  be  employed  construc- 
tively rather  than  destructively  ?  If  the  Christian  people  of  a 
village  or  town  would  support  one  strong  minister  instead  of 
starving  four  or  five  uneducated  men,  would  there  not  be 
fewer  mockers  at  the  superstitions  of  the  church  and  more 
institutions  of  charity,  rational  recreation,  and  ennobling 
education  ?  If  the  fanatical  zeal  which  now  divides  Christen- 
dom into  warring  camps  were  to  be  devoted  to  improving  the 
dwellings  of  workingmen  and  providing  social  centers  for 
youth,  would  not  the  world's  skepticism  be  changed  into 
admiring  faith  ?  If  Christianity  were  presented  in  revivals  as 
a  consecration  to  the  cause  of  elevating  and  enriching  man's 
estate,  and  not  merely  as  a  selfish  and  absorbing  desire  for 
individual  salvation,  would  this  not  be  a  convincing  demon 
stration  of  the  divinity  of  the  message  ?  If  a  blue  pencil  were 
drawn  through  every  line  of  sermons  which  did  not  tend  to 
increase  love,  peace,  justice,  and  wisdom,  might  not  the 
discourses  suffer  only  in  length  while  they  improved  in  form 
and  attractiveness  ?  If  ministers  would  exclude  from  their 
libraries  the  tomes  which  are  unscientific  or  anti  scientific, 
the  works  which  intensify  bigotry  and  fill  the  head  with  errors 
and  platitudes,  might  not  many  of  the  graduates  of  high 
schools  and  colleges  be  attracted  to  church  attendance  who 
now  remain  away  because  they  are  amazed  by  the  ineptitudes 
and  anachronisms  of  a  traditional  and  outworn  teaching  ? 


7i6        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Are  there  not  hundreds  of  communities  which  lack  pubHc 
spirit,  common  aims,  facihties  for  culture,  because  the  churches 
remain  apart  and  refuse  to  do  teamwork  ?  Are  our  ministers 
prepared  by  their  education  to  grapple  intelligently  with  the 
colossal  moral  problems  of  business  men,  and  do  they  not 
too  generally  limit  their  instruction  in  righteousness  to  petty 
personal  relations  or  to  vociferous  denunciations  of  the  sins  of 
ancient  Israel  ?  Are  not  the  average  business  man,  farmer, 
and  mechanic  compelled  to  decide  most  of  the  problems  of 
duty  without  any  real  intellectual  help  from  the  church  ? 
How  much  of  this  failure  is  due  to  cowardice,  or  to  ignorance, 
or  to  preoccupation  with  merely  ecclesiastical  or  even  clerical 
schemes  which  have  not  the  slightest  bearing  on  the  matters 
of  life  and  death,  of  daily  anxiety,  of  inner  spiritual  struggle 
to  know  the  right?  How  much  is  due  to  the  conventional 
training  of  pastors  which  still  is  under  the  influence  of  the 
monastic  ideals  which  were  nominally  overturned  by  the 
Reformation  ? 

Whatever  may  be  the  causes,  all  who  are  not  blind  to 
the  facts  must  see  that  the  church  and  the  ministry  are  too 
small  a  factor  in  the  ethical  tumult  and  anarchistic  struggles  of 
our  age  in  spite  of  our  resources. 

3.      SIGNS    OF   PROMISE 

The  day  is  breaking  in  the  east 
Of  which  the  prophets  told, 
And  brightens  up  the  sky  of  time, 
The  Christian's  age  of  gold. 

It  is  more  agreeable  to  call  attention  to  the  evidence 
that  the  leaders  of  the  church  are  awakening  to  a  sense  of  their 
privilege  and  duty  and  summoning  the  disunited  hosts  to 
co-operative  action. 

The  zeal  for  reformation. — ^The  apostolical  succession  of 
servants  of  humanity  has  never  once  been  broken;  in  all  ages 
lofty  spirits  have  protested  against  abuses  and  recalled  Chris- 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  717 

,  tians  to  the  essentials  of  faith.     In  the  darkest  night  of  the 
ages  a  flickering  lamp  burned  on  many  an  humble  altar. 

The  renaissance  of  a  humane  Christianity  was  not  pro- 
duced by  individual  saints,  but  it  was  the  outgrowth  of  a  life 
which  was  in  the  church  from  the  beginning  and  which  mani- 
fested itself  in  men  of  genius  and  also  in  millions  of  gentle  and 
obscure  persons  who  lived  without  renown  and  rest  in  nameless 
graves.  No  one  sect  can  claim  the  entire  honor  for  this 
revival.  The  Roman  Catholic  church  has  its  galaxy  of 
pure  spirits — St.  Francis,  Ehzabeth  of  Thuringia,  St.  Vincent 
de  Paul,  Frederick  Ozanam,  and  many  others.  The  Society 
of  Friends,  true  to  their  name,  gave  us  George  Fox,  Elizabeth 
Fry,  William  Penn,  and  the  poet  of  the  "drab-skirt  muse," 
John  G.  Whittier.  The  Methodist  movement  gave  us  the 
Wesleys.  We  hardly  care  to  recall  to  which  sect  belonged 
Wilberforce,  John  Howard,  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  John 
Ruskin,  Florence  Nightrhgale,  Octavia  Hill,  Thomas  Carlyle, 
for  they  are  just  human. 

The  Unitarians  never  could  boast  great  numbers,  but 
their  William  E.  Channing  and  Theodore  Parker  compelled  the 
ecclesiastical  world  to  think  of  the  workingman,  the  slave, 
the  drunkard;  and  they  helped  us  all  to  see  that  an  arbitrary 
and  heartless  tyrant,  even  if  armed  with  omnipotence,  cannot 
really  be  worshiped  as  God.  Biblical  criticism  undermined 
the  dogmatic  foundations  of  the  church  and  compelled 
believers  to  seek  refuge  in  God  himself  rather  than  in  a  book 
about  him,  or  in  a  creed,  however  valuable  these  are  as  wit- 
nesses and  instruments. 

German  economists  became  our  aUies  when  they  insisted, 
with  Wagner  and  Schmoller,  that  gains  must  rest  on  a  basis  of 
justice,  and  that  the  iron  law  of  supply  and  demand  ought  to 
be  directed  by  a  righteous  and  intelligent  purpose. 

Missions. — Foreign  missionaries  went  out  to  save  men 
from  future  punishment  and  found  the  people  in  Africa  and 
parts  of  the  Orient  in  a  present  purgatory.     Compassion  for 


7i8        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  multitude  who  were  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd  took, 
possession  of  them;  and  while  they  told  of  God,  heaven,  and 
redemption  they  taught  the  people  to  plough  a  deeper  furrow, 
to  weave  a  better  cloth,  to  use  quinine  against  malaria  rather 
than  sacrifice  to  devils,  to  treat  women  with  courtesy,  and  to 
educate  their  children. 

Perhaps  it  could  be  shown  that  missionaries  abroad  were 
pioneers  of  the  social  work  of  the  church.  Charles  Dickens 
did  something  by  holding  up  to  ridicule  those  who  sent 
blankets  to  the  naked  blacks  of  tropical  Africa  while  they 
left  starved  children  to  freeze  in  the  slums  of  London;  but 
on  the  whole  his  caricature  was  unfair  even  then,  and  since 
he  wrote  the  methods  of  missions  have  been  rapidly  improved. 

Medical  and  educational  missions  have  given  a  start  to 
the  modern  movements  in  the  Orient  and  brought  countless 
millions  to  the  door  of  hope  and  light.  These  inspiring  works 
have  not  only  been  the  most  convincing  demonstration  of  the 
divine  life  in  Christianity,  a  veritable  revelation  of  its  essence, 
but  they  have  reacted  upon  the  methods' of  the  churches  at 
home  and  made  them  more  sensible,  practical,  and  persuasive. 

Literature. — See  the  literature  cited  in  chap,  viii,  p.  481. 

Co-operation  and  federation. — Over  against  the  unhappy 
and  wasting  divisions  of  the  church  we  set  the  establishment  of 
powerful  institutions  which  represent  unity  and  co-operation. 
There  have  been  various  overtures  from  ecclesiastical  digni- 
taries to  the  ''sects,"  with  amiable  invitations  of  the  tiger  to  the 
kid,  "  to  lie  down  inside  " ;  but  these  have  not  been  taken  seri- 
ously, however  kindly  meant.  There  have  been  conventions, 
conferences,  eloquent  speeches  in  favor  of  unity,  not  without 
some  result.  But  the  most  direct  and  effective  movements 
have  let  church  union  wait  for  some  immediate,  urgent,  and 
imperative  service  to  humanity.  The  temperance  movement 
has  brought  together  members  of  all  denominations  for  the 
common  defense  of  youth,   virtue,   and  religion  from   the 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  719 

brutalities  and  degradation  of  the  drink  traffic.  The  union 
Sunday-school  conventions  and  associations  have  mobilized 
the  forces  of  the  whole  Christian  church  for  the  religious  educa- 
tion of  youth,  and  the  Religious  Education  Association  has 
brought  to  this  agency  the  resources  of  modern  biblical  scholar- 
ship and  of  the  art  of  education.  The  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  by  no  means  satisfies  the  demands  of  modern 
fellowship ;  its  creed  basis  excludes  many  of  the  finest  spirits 
of  our  faith;  but  it  has  gone  as  far  as  its  supporters  have  yet 
been  ready  to  go,  and  in  the  right  direction;  it  has  gradually 
developed  a  ministry  to  the  whole  man — body,  mind,  and 
spirit;  and  it  seems  nearly  ready  to  move  forward,  with  due 
caution,  beyond  individual  aid,  into  the  field  of  public  service. 
The  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  is  also  restricted 
in  its  organization  by  the  fears  and  traditions  of  godly  men, 
and  yet  it  also  has  brought  into  effective  co-operation  a  vast 
multitude  of  members  of  the  popular  branches  of  the  Chris- 
tian communion.  In  several  states  the  home  missionary 
societies  have  advanced,  only  too  slowly,  to  a  position  of 
comity,  courtesy,  and  economy,  where  they  refuse  to  sub- 
sidize the  strife  and  vainglory  of  sectarianism.  These 
movements,  significant  and  valuable  already,  are  still  more 
hopeful  in  indicating  the  direction  of  future  enterprises. 

4.      THE    WISE    DIRECTION    OF    EFFORT    IN    THE    NEAR    FUTURE 

The  problems  of  the  next  century  will  be  solved  more 
easily  if  we  attend  strictly  to  our  present  urgent  duty.  The 
pillars  and  roof  will  be  firm  only  as  the  foundation  is  sure. 

The  requirements  of  social  welfare  in  the  present  age  are 
determined  by  the  facts  of  this  age,  as  already  sketched. 
The  church  cannot  and  ought  not  to  work  out  a  separate  pro- 
gram of  its  own.  The  consensus  of  experts  in  each  branch 
of  social  science  is  the  nearest  possible  indication  of  duty. 
The  isolation  of  the  church  makes  its  efforts  barren.  The 
leaven  must  be  mixed  with  the  dough ;  the  seed  must  be  buried 


720        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

in  the  soil.  Even  Catholic  Europe  has  frequently  abolished 
monasteries;  and  it  would  be  atavistic  return  to  barbarism 
to  adopt  a  monastic  or  conventicle  ideal  for  the  church.  The 
duty  of  the  leaders  of  the  church  is  to  become  acquainted, 
as  well  as  they  can,  with  the  best  methods  known  for  advan- 
cing the  physical,  economic,  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  home, 
the  neighborhood,  the  town,  the  commonwealth,  the  nation, 
the  world.  The  beginning  of  wisdom  is  to  know  more  and  to 
cease  to  waste  time  on  idle  controversy  and  speculation.  We 
shall  find  inspiration,  worship,  in  the  Bible;  but  we  must  seek 
duty  in  the  relations  of  the  age  in  which  the  Creator  has  placed 
us,  as  our  fathers  sought  for  it  in  their  situation.  The  day  of 
domination  of  the  state  by  ecclesiastical  authority  has  passed. 
Clerical  interference  in  political  parties  is  resented,  and  rightly, 
because  clergymen  have  no  professional  quahfications  for  this 
task.  But  there  never  was  an  age  when  religion  and  religious 
personalities  were  more  needed  as  an  influence,  when  the 
church  had  such  a  splendid  opportunity  to  inspire  men  of 
action  and  power  with  hope,  faith,  and  charity  in  their  colossal 
and  often  discouraging  tasks. 

The  characteristic  social  task  of  the  church  ministry  of 
religion. — The  church  with  its  ministry  has  the  most  vital 
part  in  social  service;  it  must  have  a  theology  which  honest 
and  intelligent  men  can  understand  and  beheve.  It  must 
help  people  to  a  reasonable  moral  view  of  God.  It  must 
have  something  wise  and  persuasive  to  say  about  the  Divine, 
about  sin,  prayer,  the  hope  of  immortahty.  To  help  men 
to  see  God  is  the  highest  and  most  precious  social  service. 
The  church  must  keep  alive  this  belief  until  the  whole  world  is 
civilized  and  refined  enough  to  appreciate  it.  In  doing  this 
work  science  must  be  respected  in  its  field;  no  doctrine  of 
faith,  or  prayer,  or  miracle  must  contradict  the  universality 
of  the  causal  principle  on  which  all  knowledge  rests.  We 
must  not  ask  a  man  of  science  to  stultify  his  reason  in  order  to 
worship  and  hope.     We  must  teach  men  to  find  God  every- 


CHRISITANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  721 

■where  and  not  merely  in  the  inaudible,  exceptional,  and 
extraordinary.  We  must  be  rid  of  magic,  and  keep  mysticism 
in  its  place  as  poetry,  and  learn  the  ways  of  science.  The 
seer  and  the  poet  and  the  preacher  need  not  fear  exact  knowl- 
edge if  each  remain  true  to  his  own  call. 

The  essence  of  theology  is  its  doctrine  of  friendship  as  the 
spirit  of  the  universe.  All  the  arts  of  music,  liturgy,  oratory, 
poetry,  painting,  architecture,  sculpture,  city  planning,  are 
most  glorious  when  they  help  humanity  to  trust,  to  hope,  to 
love;  and  the  church  holds  a  unique  place  in  this  world  of 
beauty  and  idealism.  No  newspaper,  no  secular  or  ethical 
club,  can  ever  compete  with  it,  if  it  knows  how  to  help  men  to 
see  God,  to  love  and  reverence  him,  to  exult  in  hope. 

The  promotion  of  social  reforms. — In  the  improvement  of 
physical,  economic,  and  political  conditions  the  churches  have 
a  different  duty  to  perform,  and  a  less  direct.  But  what  they 
can  do  is  great  and  is  urgently  needed.  Sermon,  song,  and 
teaching  may  quicken  the  conscience,  kindle  pity,  compassion, 
remorse,  and  kindness.  At  this  point  the  study  of  social 
science  will  furnish  the  church  leaders  with  an  inexhaustible 
supply  of  illustrations  long  after  books  of  "rehgious  anec- 
dotes" and  "feathers  for  arrows"  have  been  worn  out.  The 
newspapers  and  magazines  paint  stories,  but  they  lack  the  fire 
of  religious  fervor  to  give  momentum  to  sacrificial  endeavor, 
and  newspapers  cannot  organize  institutions  and  train  workers 
as  the  church  can.  Numerous  groups  of  scientific  specialists 
exist  who  possess  knowledge  but  who  have  comparatively 
few  votes;  the  federated  churches  have  millions  of  voting 
members,  with  vast  and  widely  diffused  political  influence  over 
the  entire  nation;  but  they  have  no  authority  in  social  science. 
A  good  understanding  between  the  expert  groups  and  the 
multitudes  who  profess  a  religion  of  benevolence  and  justice 
would  be  fruitful,  and  it  seems  to  be  at  hand.  The  American 
Association  for  Labor  Legislation,  the  American  Prison  Asso- 
ciation, the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction, 


72  2        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

the  National  Child  Labor  Committee,  the  Consumers' 
League,  and  others  have  long  invited  the  co-operation  of 
pastors,  recently  with  much  success. 

The  church  has  opportunities  of  instruction  in  social 
duties  which  belong  to  no  other  institution.  The  sermon  can 
do  something,  but  cannot  deal  with  technical  problems.  Dis- 
cussions in  social  meetings,  classes,  and  societies  are  the 
most  effective  means  of  training  the  members  to  think  socially, 
to  consider  the  claims  of  justice  in  all  relations  of  life. 

Literature. — A  list  of  most  important  societies  may  be  had  from  the 
Russell  Sage  Foundation,  102  East  Twenty-second  Street,  New  York 
City.  The  Survey,  published  weekly,  gives  an  excellent  review  of  cur- 
rent activities  in  all  fields,  indispensable  to  anyone  who  will  march  with 
his  American  contemporaries.  See  W.  N.  Hutchins,  Graded  Social 
Service  for  the  Smiday  School  (Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press, 
1 9 14);  C.  R.  Henderson,  Social  Duties  from  the  Christian  Point  of  View 
(Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909).  Josiah  Strong, 
The  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  (New  York:  Bible  House),  supplies  lessons 
and  helps  each  month  in  the  year.  See  also  Directory  of  Speakers  on 
Municipal  Problems,  published  by  the  Department  of  Social  Betterment 
of  the  Brooklyn  Bureau  of  Charities.  The  Federal  Council  of  Churches 
of  Christ  in  America  offers  a  program  for  study  and  action  and  the 
social-service  committees  of  various  denominations  seek  to  enlist  groups 
of  students. 

The  "social  evangelist"  may  have  his  uses  as  the  indi- 
vidualistic revivalist,  if  sane,  has  his  place;  but  the  serious 
and  lasting  work  will  be  done  in  small  groups  of  careful 
students,  for  educated  leaders  are  afraid  of  the  mob  mind  and 
seek  quiet  discussion.  The  leaders  of  these  groups  must 
ultimately  be  trained  for  their  task  in  colleges  and  universities ; 
they  will  be  specialized  ministers  of  churches.  Groups  of 
churches  will  combine  to  support  them;  one  competent  man 
in  a  populous  county  could  direct  the  serious  discussions  of 
hundreds  of  leaders  under  a  proper  system  of  co-operation. 
It  would  be  absurd  to  require  that  every  pastor  should  be 
competent  to  guide  studies  over  such  vast  fields.     The  church 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  723 

will  learn  to  specialize  in  religious  leadership  just  as  the  uni- 
versities,   the    great    industries,    and    all    other    successful 
organizations  have  done. 

The  need  of  workers. — Yet  it  will  be  entirely  possible,  and 
it  is  highly  desirable,  that  all  educated  men  and  women, 
ministers  included,  during  their  course  of  instruction  in  second- 
ary school,  college,  and  professional  school,  should  receive 
preparation  for  intelligent  co-operation  in  the  works  of  good 
citizenship.  A  curriculum  has  already  been  arranged  for  the 
accompHshment  of  this  purpose,  as  mentioned  above,  and  it 
includes  a  liberal  provision  for  language,  science,  history,  and 
literature. 

The  church  can  send  laborers  into  the  harvest;  theological 
students,  a  few;  but  multitudes  of  others.  There  is  not  an 
effective  society  of  philanthropy  which  does  not  cry  out,  often 
in  vain,  for  helpers.  These  helpers  must  be  prepared  for  their 
duties,  and  there  are  educational  institutions  prepared  to  give 
the  necessary  instruction  and  training  for  social  service. 
Many  churches  could  select  promising  young  people  and  pro- 
vide for  their  professional  education  as  directors  of  play- 
grounds, probation  officers,  charity  visitors,  librarians  with  a 
missionary  spirit,  social  secretaries,  teachers  in  reform  schools, 
managers  of  clubs  for  youth,  residents  in  settlements. 

Literature. — Mary  E.  Richmond,  Friendly  Visiting  among  the  Poor 
(New  York:  Macmillan,  1899)  and  The  Good  Neighbor  in  the  Modern 
City,  7th  ed.  (Philadelphia:  Lippincott,  1913);  Graham  Taylor,  Religion 
in  Social  Action  (New  York:  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.,  1913). 

Social  politics. — The  most  perplexing  problems  before  the 
church  which  undertakes  to  exert  any  influence  whatever  on 
"social  poHtics"  and  the  material  and  cultural  interests  of  the 
wage-earners  are  those  of  trade  unions  and  socialism.  The 
problem  of  the  liquor  traffic  is  comparatively  simple,  because 
the  financial  interests  involved  are  so  plainly  in  recognized 
antagonism  to  order,  security,  health,  morals,  and  religion. 


724        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

But  the  "labor  question"  divides  the  nation  into  two  camps, 
and  there  is  no  present  outlook  for  agreement. 

So  far  as  charity  is  concerned,  there  is  no  very  bitter 
controversy,  except  when  the  philanthropists  regard  it  as  a 
substitute  for  justice  and  settle  down  in  contented  satis- 
faction with  their  alms-deeds.  Scientific  charity  itself  in  our 
time  dispels  the  illusion  of  the  finahty  of  gifts,  and  its  matter- 
of-fact  records  point  to  low  wages,  exhausting  toil,  poisonous 
air  in  workshops,  reckless  disregard  of  life  in  mines  and  on 
railways,  unequal  taxation  and  "tax-dodging,"  exploitation  of 
consumers  and  laborers,  as  among  the  chief  causes  of  misery, 
the  "extravagance"  of  the  poor  and  alcohohsm  having  been 
greatly  exaggerated  in  this  connection. 

Welfare  work. — ^"  Welfare  work"  on  the  part  of  employers, 
as  an  expression  of  sincere  kindness,  awakens  some  protest,  and 
is  not  received  with  enthusiastic  satisfaction  by  the  working- 
men;  they  regard  it,  in  the  main,  as  an  element  of  minor 
importance,  even  when  it  is  not  used  to  distract  workingmen 
and  win  them  away  from  their  own  unions. 

The  real  issue  is  one  which  we  are  loath  to  face,  and  one 
which  we  can  meet  only  with  adequate  knowledge,  sympathy, 
and  sober  judgment.  Who  is  to  control  the  conditions  of 
labor  and  the  distribution  of  the  product  ? 

Literature. — Suggestive  studies  are  found  in  J.  G.  Brooks,  American 
Syndicalism  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1913);  A.  W.  Small,  Between 
Eras  (Kansas  City:  Intercollegiate  Press,  1913).  See  generally  the 
literature  of  Socialism. 

Socialism. — The  scheme  of  socialism  needs  to  be  under- 
stood by  Christian  leaders,  for  nothing  does  greater  harm  than 
misrepresentation.  Common  objections  to  socialism  are 
that  it  would  mean  equality  of  income;  destruction  of  the 
right  to  hold  and  enjoy  private  property;  perhaps  community 
of  wives  and  rearing  of  children  by  the  state;  atheism;  a 
monotonous  dead  level  of  culture.  None  of  these  things 
belongs  to  the  essence  of  socialism,  although  various  socialistic 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  725 

writers  have  indulged  in  all  sorts  of  adventures  in  these 
directions.  Any  definition  of  socialism  is  likely  to  be  chal- 
lenged; but  perhaps  we  may  say  that  the  essence  of  socialism 
is  the  demand  that  all  wealth  used  for  social  production  should 
be  under  social  control.  This  means  that  the  managers  of 
industry,  commerce,  and  banking  should  be  employees  of  the 
commonwealth  and  responsible  to  the  people  for  their  conduct 
of  affairs.  It  would  be  the  extension  of  control  by  representa- 
tives of  the  people,  not  only  over  law  and  government,  but 
over  business.  The  product  of  industry  would  not  be  divided 
at  the  will  of  capitalist  managers,  nor  by  vote  of  the  operators 
in  particular  industries,  but  under  control  of  representatives 
of  the  entire  public.  Apparently  there  is  no  immediate 
prospect  of  this  radical  and  revolutionary  scheme  being 
carried  out.  But  there  is  a  marked  tendency  to  realize 
the  principle  of  social  control  one  step  at  a  time,  as  in  the 
supervision  of  powerful  corporations  by  public  utilities 
commissions;  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  and 
courts;  municipal  ownership  and  management  of  water 
works,  street  cars,  gas  and  electric  works;  the  federal  post- 
office,  parcel  post,  and  federal  telegraph  and  telephone 
service;  obligatory  insurance  of  all  kinds  under  public 
regulation. 

The  whole  system  of  public  inspection  and  regulation  of 
factories,  mills,  mines,  and  railways  to  protect  the  life,  limb, 
and  health  of  employees  is  an  expression  of  a  determination 
to  use  the  power  of  the  government  to  restrict  the  arbitrary 
and  irresponsible  abuse  of  power  by  capitalist  managers. 
The  swift  extension  of  social  insurance  means  in  part  taking 
profits  and  dividends  to  add  to  wages;  giving  to  the  men  who 
work  hardest  and  suffer  most  a  more  adequate  support  and 
share  in  the  heritage  of  civilization.  Social  insurance  means 
that  life  is  to  be  made  secure  and  free  from  deadly  worry  and 
gaunt  care,  without  dependence  on  uncertain  and  humiliating 
charity. 


726        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Literature. — The  literature  on  socialism  is  so  enormous  that  we 
can  only  select  a  few  representative  titles.  The  following  will  serve 
to  introduce  the  general  reader  to  this  phase  of  industrial  philosophy  and 
effort.  Kirkup,  A  History  of  Socialism  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1909); 
Sombart,  Sozialismus  und  soziale  Bewegung,  6th  ed.  (Jena:  Fischer, 
1908;  English  translation  by  Epstein,  Socialism  and  the  Social  Movement 
[New  York:  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.,  1909]);  Rauschenbusch,  Christianity 
and  the  Social  Crisis  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1907);  Podmore,  Robert 
Owen  (London:  Hutchinson,  1906);  Hillquit,  History  of  Socialism  in 
The  United  States  (New  York:  Funk  &  Wagnalls  Co.,  1910);  Ensor, 
Modern  Socialism  (New  York:  Harper,  1908);  Hunter,  Socialists  at 
Work  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1908);  Orth,  Socialism  and  Democracy 
in  Europe  (New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1913).  A  good  classified 
bibliography  is  given  in  Skelton,  Socialism:  A  Critical  Analysis  (Chicago: 
Charles  H.  Kerr  &  Co.,  191 1). 

Common  wealth. — The  multiplication  of  public  libraries, 
parks,  museums,  and  schools  signifies  that  modern  democracy 
intends  to  bring  the  blessings  of  the  higher  realms  of  culture 
within  reach  of  every  living  soul.  The  condemnation  of 
crowded  and  insanitary  dwellings  is  a  policy  widely  accepted, 
and  it  will  include  municipal  ownership  of  houses  wherever 
the  self-interest  of  capital  fails  to  provide  decently  for  the 
homes  of  men.  The  federal  income  tax,  with  its  exemptions 
of  the  poor  and  its  progressively  increasing  levy  on  super- 
fluous revenues,  is  an  expression  of  the  determination  of  the 
people  to  curb  and  restrict  luxury  so  long  as  millions  of  manual 
workers  have  not  enough  to  eat.  Inheritance  taxes  have 
more  than  a  mere  financial  purpose;  they  are  a  means  deliber- 
ately adopted  for  the  redistribution  of  earned  and  unearned 
fortunes,  and  a  notice  to  the  heirs  of  wealth  who  toil  not  nor 
spin  that  it  will  be  well  for  them  to  learn  a  trade. 

In  all  this  economic  movement  there  is  something  deeper 
and  nobler  than  physical  hunger;  there  is  a  sense  of  justice, 
an  ideal  of  brotherhood.  Such  legislation  is  too  calm,  steady, 
and  secure  of  its  aim  to  be  under  control  of  envy  and  revenge 
or  anarchistic  passion;  it  is  the  largest,  finest,  and  most 
eflfective   method    of    expressing    solidarity,    fraternity.     So 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  727 

far  from  being  a  brief  madness,  this  policy  is  the  slow  growth 
of  centuries  of  discussion,  and  gradually  has  changed  senti- 
ments, customs,  laws,  and  constitutions  in  all  civilized  lands. 
Perils  of  progress. — While  leaders  of  the  Christian  church 
should  study  these  modern  policies  intelligently  and  sympa- 
thetically, they  should  also  be  critical  and  able  to  understand 
the  perils  and  difficulties  of  reform,  especially  of  a  radical 
and  revolutionary  plan  like  sociaUsm.  For  direct  popular  con- 
trol and  administration  of  the  complex  industries  of  modern 
times  the  masses  of  the  people  are  yet  unprepared;  the  dif- 
ficulty of  securing  competent  managers  of  large  affairs  is  seen 
in  the  failure  of  many  of  our  political  ventures  in  industrial 
fields.  We  must  get  our  training  as  we  travel  forward,  and 
must  learn  from  our  mistakes;  but  the  general  direction  of 
progress  is  made  clear  by  noting  the  historical  movement 
for  social  control  over  a  period  of  several  centuries. 

Literature. — R.  Fulton  Cutting,  The  Church  and  Society  (New  York: 
Macmillan,  191 2)  (with  many  concrete  examples  of  church  activities); 
S.  N.  Patten,  The  Social  Basis  of  Religion  (New  York:  Macmillan,  191 1) ; 
A.  M.  Trawick,  The  City  Church  and  Its  Social  Mission,  with  bibliog- 
raphy (New  York:  Association  Press,  1913);  W.  H.  Allen,  Efficient 
Democracy  (New  York:  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.,  1907);  Joseph  Mazzini, 
The  Duties  of  Man  (London:  Chapman,  1862;  New  York:  E.  P.  Button 
&  Co.,  1907). 

Fellowship  in  religion  the  crown  of  all  progress. — Social 
service  culminates  in  the  fellowship  of  religion.  Religion  does 
indeed,  as  we  have  insisted,  stimulate  us  to  love  all  our  fellow- 
men,  to  do  good  as  we  have  opportunity,  to  use  all  our 
resources  and  all  institutions  to  promote  the  economic, 
physical,  aesthetic,  scientific,  political  well-being  of  mankind. 
Thus  far  religion  is  a  powerful  means  to  a  noble  and  rational 
end,  toward  which  God  himself  is  working  with  us  and  in  us. 
And  the  church  as  the  chief  school  of  religion  cannot  neglect 
the  task  of  applying  religious  influences  in  the  cause  of 
humanity. 


728        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Yet  religion  is  a  good  in  itself  and  the  highest,  not  merely  a 
means  to  promote  other  ends;  and  the  specific,  characteristic 
function  of  the  church  is  not  that  of  promoting  science,  art, 
or  preventive  medicine;  there  are  special  institutions  for 
each  oi  these  worthy  objects,  and  the  church  has  no  call  to 
meddle  with  their  administration. 

As  one  of  my  honored  colleagues  has  said : 

We  need  the  church,  a  community  of  men  in  which  we  interchange 
the  faith  of  our  heart  in  living,  mutual  fellowship  with  the  hearts  of  other 

men The  certitude  of  our  faith  depends  upon  the  discernment  of 

itself  in  others'  hearts;    the  endearment  of  our  faith  is  increased  by 

seeing  the  enlargement  of  our  faith The  very  satisfactions  which 

are  achieved  by  the  functions  of  religion  can  become  our  possession  only 
in  case  that  religion  be  not  means  but  end  as  well.' 

The  climax  of  the  social  service  of  the  Master  was  not  in 
heahng  the  sick  and  giving  sight  to  the  blind,  but  in  preaching 
the  gospel  to  the  poor.  And  who  are  so  poor  as  the  rich  who 
know  not  God  ? 

'  G.  B.  Foster,  The  Function  of  Religion  in  Man''s  Struggle  for  Existence, 
1909. 


XII.     THE  CONTRIBUTION  OF  CRITICAL  SCHOLAR- 
SHIP TO  MINISTERIAL  EFFICIENCY 

By  GEORGE  BURMAN  FOSTER 
Professor  of  the  Philosophy  of  Religion,  University  of  Chicago 


ANALYSIS 

I.  The  method  of  modern  education. — "Calling"  and  "voca- 
tion."— The  secularization  of  the  minister's  profession. — The 
-advantages  of  modern  methods. — The  dangers  of  secularization. — 
The  value  and  the  danger  of  efficiency. — The  modem  experience  of 

doubt 730-742 

II.  The  task  of  theology. — Theology  and  vocational  demands. 
The  need  of  the  scientific  spirit  in  theology. — How  does  the 
scientific  study  of  theology  equip  the  preacher ? 742-751 


XII.     THE  CONTRIBUTION  OF  CRITICAL  SCHOLAR- 
SHIP TO  MINISTERIAL  EFFICIENCY 

I.   THE  METHOD  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION 

The  essentials  of  a  school  are  teachers  and  students. 
According  to  our  new  education,  the  primary  office  of  the 
teacher  is  to  teach,  not  thoughts  or  things,  but  human  beings. 
He  is  not  a  superior  being  whose  aim  is  to  impart  authoritative 
information  to  inferiors,  sustaining  to  him  the  appropriate 
attitude  of  submission,  passivity,  and  docility.  Renouncing 
aristocratic  aloofness,  he  becomes  his  students'  guide  and 
friend,  developing  their  energy,  independence,  initiative,  and 
resourcefulness.  Learning  hy  doing  is  the  slogan  in  our 
modern  schools  as  against  the  old  watchword  of  learning  by 
being  told  or  taught. 

Accordingly,  pupils  are  put  in  direct  relation  with  reality 
instead  of  with  symbols  of  reality.  The  content  of  life  and 
environment  is  the  subject-matter  which  they  study.  It  is  not 
that  the  student  is  immediately  fitted  for  some  trade  or  voca- 
tion or  profession,  but  that  the  material  which  he  examines 
and  elaborates  is  drawn  from  actual  life  itself.  The  new 
education  aims  to  give  neither  mere  ''book  learning,"  as  was 
the  case  with  an  earher  scholasticism,  nor  the  narrow  and 
technical  vocational  training,  as  the  present-day  secularist 
craves,  but  to  develop  mind  and  body,  to  stimulate  inventive- 
ness, and  to  cultivate  a  judicial  temper  and  habit,  in  order 
that  the  student  may  be  prepared  to  become  a  happy  and 
useful  member  of  a  democratic  society.  In  a  word,  our  new 
general  education  assimilates  itself  to  the  spirit  of  democracy 
and  to  the  method  of  our  sciences. 

Now,  in  what  respect,  if  in  any,  does  professional  or 
vocational  education  differ  from  our  ordinary  education  ?     By 

731 


732         GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

a  professional  school  is  meant  an  institution  where  students 
gain  control  of  one  specialized  field  of  knowledge,  of  one  par- 
ticular industry  or  profession  or  calling — such,  for  example,  as 
engineering,  or  medicine,  or  divinity.  Professional  schools — ■ 
their  history  reveals  this — have  usually  fallen  into  the  extremes 
of  an  inherited  scholastic  "  bookishness "  or  else  of  a  narrow 
utilitarian  practicism.  To  illustrate  in  the  use  of  theology, 
this  ''discipline"  was  knowledge  dissociated  from  life,  a 
thing  worth  while  on  its  own  account,  or  else  it  was  little  more 
than  drill  in  the  usages  and  ceremonies  of  the  church.  In 
ages  of  rationalism  and  panlogism  it  tended  to  be  the  former; 
it  was  the  latter  in  primitive  and  mediaeval  times.  It  may 
be  doubted  whether  medicine  and  law  are  second  to  theology 
as  exemplars  of  these  extremes. 

In  opposition  to  this  scholastic  education  apart  from  active 
life  or  this  technical  education  apart  from  broad  learning,  the 
new  education  of  the  ordinary  schools  unites  ideas  and  practice, 
work  and  the  recognition  of  the  meaning  of  what  is  done, 
learning  and  social  applications.  Happily,  the  conviction  is 
maturing  today  that  this  unity  should  replace  those  theoretical 
and  practical  onesidednesses  in  our  professional  education; 
that,  advancing  into  the  region  of  specialism,  the  matter  of 
most  importance  is  not  familiarity  with  the  body  of  ready- 
made  knowledge,  or  skill  in  manipulating  a  technique,  but 
knowing  how  to  know,  skilful  in  becoming  skilful.  At 
bottom  this  means  the  formation  of  the  kind  of  character 
and  experience  which,  in  their  special  modification,  are 
required  for  the  enthusiasm  and  service  of  humanity  in  that 
special  profession.  Thus,  the  primary  function  of  any  pro- 
fessional school  is  the  unfolding  and  maturing  of  the  right  kind 
of  man  for  the  right  kind  of  work.  Both  the  school's  science 
and  practice  are  simply  means  to  that  end.  It  is  neither 
the  knowledge  nor  the  practice  in  their  abstractness,  but 
the  knowing  and  doing  personality  that  is  society's  valuable 
asset. 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  MINISTERIAL  EFFICIENCY      733 

Now,  it  is  in  the  light  of  such  considerations  as  these  that 
the  serious  problems  of  our  theological  education  may  be 
approached. 

"Calling"  and  "vocation." — There  is  a  distinction — not 
philological,  but  historical  and  real — ^between  the  words 
*' calling"  and  "vocation."  The  significance  of  this  dis- 
tinction leads  to  the  heart  of  our  problem,  so  worthy  of  thus 
studying  in  a  large  way.  Historically  speaking,  calling  is 
providential,  vocation  is  optional;  calling  is  religious,  voca- 
tion is  moral;  calling  is  a  man's  by  motives  deeper  than  his 
choice,  wiser  than  his  deliberations;  vocation  is  a  man's  by 
his  own  elective  preference.  In  calling,  a  minister  feels  that 
he  is  a  man  of  destiny — woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel; 
I  was  foreordained  and  set  apart  from  my  mother's  womb 
for  this  work,  a  work  in  which  the  power  of  the  eternal  is  at 
my  disposal,  is  indeed  my  power.  Without  this  feeling  the 
minister  is  sure  to  be  shorn  of  his  strength  and  robbed  of  his 
greatness  among  men.  But  in  vocation  one  is  looked  upon  as 
self-dependent,  self-sufficient,  self-accountable.  To  be  sure, 
calling  and  vocation  are  not  exclusive,  but  the  objective  and 
subjective,  rather  the  divine  and  the  human  side,  of  the  same 
experience.  But,  historically,  they  have  fallen  asunder.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  modern  world  Luther  and  Calvin  both 
looked  upon  a  man's  work,  no  matter  what  it  was,  as  his 
calling — as  his  by  the  providential  will  of  God.  Thus  a 
man's  work  reposed  upon  a  religious  basis.  Men  were  what 
they  were,  doing  what  they  did,  by  the  power  and  plan  and 
purpose  of  God.  Such  a  conviction  brought  strength  and 
stay  and  contentment.  But  in  the  eighteenth  century  the 
religious  basis  of  all  secular'  callings  was  undermined.  The 
relative  historical  justification  of  this  critical  dissolution  does 
not  concern  us  here.  The  fact  is  that,  along  with  science  and 
art  and  education,  the  other  orders  of  life  dispensed  with  their 

'Aware  of  the  dualism  seemingly  involved  in  the  words  "secular"  and 
"sacred,"  I  find  it  convenient  to  use  them  in  this  discussion. 


734        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

religious  foundation,  and  that  capital,  machinery,  and 
technique  came  in  to  take  their  place.  Accordingly,  faith  in 
the  fulfilment  of  one's  daily  task  came  to  repose  in  the  latter 
rather  than  in  the  former. 

In  all  this  one  may  see  progress  in  a  certain  direction.  Per- 
haps the  heavens  had  to  be  emptied  and  clouded  for  a  time,  if 
men  were  to  realize  that  they  must  stand  upon  the  earth, 
develop  the  resources  of  the  earth,  and  depend  upon  them- 
selves. Yet  this  loss  of  the  religious  basis  of  secular  callings 
is  largely  responsible  for  the  sorry  fruits  of  egoism  and 
mammonism,  of  cynicism  and  pessimism.  It  may  not  be  too 
much  to  say  that  the  world  of  business  needs  nothing  so  much 
as  to  add  to  the  confidence  in  technique  and  machinery  and 
money  the  ancient  faith  in  God,  with  his  providential  guidance 
over  men's  work,  and  his  peace  and  power  in  men's  hearts. 
Labor  needs  to  supply  to  its  notion  of  vocation  its  former 
notion  of  calling.     It  watches,  but  it  also  needs  to  pray. 

The  secularization  of  the  minister's  profession. — Has 
an  analogous  development  gone  on  in  the  sacred  calling  of  the 
Christian  ministry?  Once  there  was  the  religious  basis 
without  machinery  and  capital — -not  even  a  salary!  The 
ministry  was  caUing,  conscious  of  God's  power  and  will,  God's 
truth  and  cause,  God's  providence.  The  minister  spoke  with 
authority  to  the  consciences  and  hearts  of  men.  There  was 
an  accent  of  positive  conviction  that  could  not  be  simulated 
or  mistaken.  Men  were  made  to  face  the  tables  of  stone,  the 
cross,  and  the  great  white  throne.  A  supernatural  significance 
and  awe  attached  to  human  life  as  a  probationary  place 
of  definitive  and  eternal  decisions.  The  prophet  and  priest 
of  God  was  a  king  among  men.  What  has  been  going  on  ? 
The  sacred  calling  is  duplicating  in  its  own  way  the  experience 
of  the  secular  calling.  The  calling  becomes  a  vocation.  To 
be  sure,  this  is  but  a  "moment"  in  the  total  secularization  of 
all  life,  which  seems  to  be  the  set  program  of  the  modern  world. 
The  sacred  calling  is  becoming  de-supernaturalized  and,  in  a 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  MINISTERIAL  EFFICIENCY      735 

sense,  de-spiritualized.  So  is  its  technique.  But  one  sees 
in  this  great  change  the  method  of  the  evolutionary  process 
fully  illustrated.  Life,  characteristic  of  one  era,  survives 
increasingly  unproductive  and  moribund,  in  the  subsequent 
period,  committed  to  new  growths  and  species.  At  length 
such  life  of  the  old  order  ceases  in  fact  as  it  had  already 
ceased  in  prin^ciple.  This  is  true  in  the  sphere  of  the  higher 
life  and  processes  of  which  we  are  thinking.  Thus  in  prin- 
ciple— though  not  yet  entirely  in  fact — ^the  divinity  of  the 
historic  sacraments  is  gone,  and  of  ministerial  grace  from 
ordaining  hands ;  gone  is  the  origin  of  the  sermon  in  the  Holy 
Ghost — the  open-your-mouth-and-it-shall-be-filled  theory  of 
preaching — ^the  naive  and  primitive  trust  in  divine  afflatus; 
gone  is  the  preacher's  living  upon  the  capricious  gratuities  and 
donations  of  a  flock  who  felt  that  it  was  their  place  to  keep  him 
poor,  God's  to  keep  him  humble — ^both  prerogatives  now 
arrogated  to  themselves.  More  serious  still,  the  divinity  of 
his  church,  of  the  doctrines  and  morals  of  his  sermons,  of  the 
Head  of  the  church,  of  the  specific  God  of  his  theology — these 
too  are  gone,  and  with  them  the  old  miraculous  supernatural- 
ism  of  regeneration  and  sanctification  and  perfection .  Indeed , 
these  words  are  quite  unintelligible  to  the  modern  man  on  the 
street  and  almost  obsolete  in  the  terminology  of  the  theo- 
logian. What  is  taking  the  place  of  all  this  that  once  consti- 
tuted the  religious  basis  of  the  ministerial  calling  ?  In  part, 
technique,  machinery,  capital,  especially  organization  with  the 
correlate  of  scientific  efficiency  of  the  churches  in  manipulating 
them.  The  dream  is  of  a  scientific  ministry  instead  of  the  old 
religious  ministry.  The  minister  is  not  so  much  prophet  and 
priest  of  God  as  an  administrative  officer  of  a  philanthropic 
and  humanitarian  institution  endowed  by  capital,  which  he  is 
competent  to  execute.  The  church  is  not  a  temple,  but  a 
"plant."  The  idea  seems  to  be  gaining  favor  that  if  men 
are  fed  and  clothed  and  sheltered  and  washed  and  amused  they 
will  not  need  to  be  redeemed  with  the  old  terrible  redemption. 


736        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

In  somewhat  harsh  antithesis,  to  be  sure,  one  may  say  that 
not  supernatural  regeneration,  but  natural  growth;  not 
divine  sanctification,  but  human  education;  not  supernatural 
grace,  but  natural  morahty;  not  the  divine  expiation  of  the 
cross,  but  the  human  heroism — or  accident? — ^of  the  cross; 
not  the  supernatural  spiritual  brother,  but  the.  natural  bodily 
brother;  not  the  invisible  religious  communion  of  saints, 
living  and  dead,  but  boys'  clubs  and  men's  clubs  and  social 
settlements,  all  run  in  the  use  of  technique,  machinery,  and 
capital,  with  scientific  efficiency  clinically  learned  in  a  divinity 
school;  and  not  Christ  the  Lord,  but  the  man  Jesus  who 
was  a  child  of  his  times,  not  God  and  his  providence,  but 
evolution  and  its  process  without  an  absolute  goal — that  all 
this,  and  such  as  this,  is  the  new  turn  in  the  affairs  of  religion 
at  the  tick  of  the  clock.  It  is  the  change  that  is  going  on 
from  the  old  minister  to  the  new,  from  the  old  church  to 
the  new. 

The  advantages  of  modem  methods. — Now,  is  this 
progress  ? .  In  a  sense,  yes.  It  was  progress  in  the  secular. 
The  machine  makes  shorter  hours  possible,  leaving  time  for 
possible  personal  improvement  and  social  intercourse.  A 
larger  population  can  be  provided  for,  and  so  forth. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  church  with  modern  appointments 
and  appliances,  money  and  organization.  We  have  but  to 
think  of  how  much  better  religion  can  be  taught  in  the  use 
of  modern  pedagogy;  or  of  how  much  more  systematically 
and  wisely  scientific  charities  can  be  administered;  of  how 
organized  parish  visitations  can  be  carried  on;  of  how  the 
problem  of  the  boy  can  be  solved;  of  how  church  services 
can  be  conducted  with  beauty  and  finesse.  All  this  is  good  and 
will  doubtless  grow  better.  Besides,  the  beUefs  of  the  church 
which  constitute  the  substance  of  the  sermon  are  readjusted 
to  fit  more  harmoniously  into  the  sum  of  modem  convictions. 
We  shall  not  be  able  to  go  back  behind  all  this  in  the  world  of 
the  church  any  more  than  in  the  world  of  business. 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  MINISTERIAL  EFFICIENCY      737 

The  dangers  of  secularization. — But,  for  all  that,  we  have 
the  problem  on  our  hands  in  the  secular  world  as  to  whether 
machine  and  capital  are  primary,  and  personaHty  and  human- 
ity secondary,  or  whether  it  is  the  other  way  around;  the 
problem  of  whether  man  is  for  the  sake  of  vocation  or  voca- 
tion for  the  sake  of  man — the  problem  of  man's  spirituality 
and  freedom  and  worth.  But  this  problem  can  never  be 
solved  until  there  is  the  restoration  of  the  long-lost  religious 
basis  of  secular  life.  It  is  not  science,  it  is  faith,  the  com- 
munion of  all  men  in  and  with  God,  that  can  make  man  the 
lord  and  not  the  slave  of  capital  and  machine  and  organiza- 
tion. Only  so  can  there  cease  to  be  the  hard  dominion  of 
thing  over  person.  Once  again  the  laborer  must  return  to  the 
conviction  that  his  vocation  is  a  calling — ^his  calling  by  the 
will  and  providence  of  God. 

A  similar  relationship  needs  to  be  maintained  in  the  world 
of  the  sacred  between  the  primary  worth  of  personality 
and  the  instrumentalities  and  institutions  of  the  church. 
The  real  church  of  God  is  a  spiritual  and  invisible  communion 
of  religious  faith.  The  real  church  of  God  is  super-institu- 
tional. As  man,  any  man,  is  more  than  a  "member  of 
society,"  is  super-social  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  social 
organism,  that  is,  is  a  child  of  God,  so  the  calling  of  the  minister 
is  more  than  so-called  ''social  service,"  and  has  to  do  with 
that  deep  of  man  which  cries  unto  the  deep  of  the  being  of 
God.  There  was  a  lonely  hour  at  the  brook  Jabbok  when 
Jacob's  family  and  flock  were  out  of  his  mind,  the  peril  of  his 
angry  brother  forgotten,  his  heart  corroded  by  no  mordant 
memory — a  lonely  hour  in  which  he  cried:  "Tell  me,  I  pray 
thee,  thy  name,"  the  Ineffable  Name.  He  wanted  to  know 
the  eternal  mystery  and  meaning  of  existence.  Not  so-called 
"social  service,"  but  the  ministry  of  the  interpretation  and 
the  satisfaction  of  this  inexpugnable  and  abysmal  need  of 
man,  is  the  supreme  and  inalienable  function  of  the  Christian 
minister.     And  this  is  a  work  where  the  peculiar  worth  of 


738        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

personality,  religious  personality,  entirely  dissociated  from  all 
the  technique  and  machinery  and  capital  of  the  whole  ecclesi- 
astical entity,  is  paramount.  It  were  well  to  realize  in  thought 
what  a  reduction  of  human  nature  and  human  need  there 
would  be  were  man  to  be  abridged  to  a  point  where  what 
could  be  done  for  him  by  "social  service"  with  its  instru- 
mentalities could  satisfy  him.  Man  has  untranslatable  wealth, 
super- vocational  vastness  and  verities  and  relationships.  So 
has  the  minister;  and  it  is  this  super- vocational  overplus 
that  is  the  best  part  of  the  minister,  and  that  lends  chief 
charm  and  value  even  to  the  minister's  vocational  activity 
itself. 

The  value  and  the  danger  of  efficiency. — It  is  in  the  light 
of  this  larger  perspective  that  one  can  evaluate  the  most 
characteristic  watchword  of  the  modern  world — efficiency. 
The  educational  and  ecclesiastical  circles  have  borrowed  it 
from  the  commercial  world.  It  must  be  admitted  that  there 
is  much  value  in  the  maxim.  It  is  opposed  to  sloth.  In  the 
concentration  and  solidification  which  it  requires,  it  dis- 
courages the  spirit  that  reflectively  divides  the  inner  self  and 
leaves  it  divided.  And  it  emphasizes  courage.  To  be  sure,  it 
is  the  courage  to  face  rivals  in  the  market  place  rather  than 
the  courage  that  meets  one's  own  spiritual  enemies.  But 
for  all  that  we  know  in  our  hearts  that  this  modern  watch- 
word is  profoundly  unsatisfactory  in  every  sphere  of  life, 
particularly  in  the  Christian  ministry.  What  this  watch- 
word does  not  emphasize  is  the  significance  of  self-possession ; 
of  lifting  up  our  eye  to  the  hills  whence  cometh  our  help;  of 
testing  the  life^  that  now  is  by  the  vision  of  the  largest  life  that 
we  can  image  and  appreciate.  In  a  way  that  appeals  to  a 
superficial  populace  with  quantitative  standards  it  emphasizes 
results  rather  than  ideals,  vigor  rather  than  cultivation, 
temporary  success  rather  than  wholeness  of  life,  the  greatness 
of  him  that  "taketh  a  city"  rather  than  of  him  that  ''ruleth 
his    spirit."    It   points    to   a    shallow   pragmatism,    missing 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  MINISTERIAL  EFFICIENCY      739 

the  pragmatic  depths.  In  its  current  signification  it  is  not 
correlated  to  man's  deepest  needs — needs  which,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  this  word,  are  super-efhcient.  Men  are 
indeed  suffering  from  poverty  and  dirt  and  disease,  from 
manifold  industrial  and  social  evils.  The  minister  must 
indeed  sustain  positive  relations  to  these  evils.  But  the 
worst  evil  is  not  such  sufferings.  The  worst  evil  is  spiritual 
destitution.  Men  are  suffering  far  more  from  the  loss  of 
God  and  of  the  moral  imperative  than  from  the  lack  of  bread 
and  work,  of  recreation  and  amusement.  What  can  silence 
the  voice  of  the  heart's  pain  ?  What  can  introduce  a  man 
defeated,  lonely,  bereaved,  defenseless,  into  the  region  of 
eternal  truth,  eternal  rest,  eternal  peace?  ''Efficiency" 
cannot  answer  such  questions.  These  are  questions  common 
to  all  time.  But  our  time  is  indeed  an  age  of  doubt,  more 
widespread  and  more  basic  than  the  premature  prognosticators 
of  an  age  of  faith  seem  to  be  aware  of.  The  new  world  began 
in  doubt.  First  there  was  a  doubt  of  the  church  and  of  its 
divine  authority.  A  violent  devastating  storm  swept  over 
popular  life.     The  storm  was  speedily  exorcised.     Again — 

The  sea  of  faith 
Was  once,  too,  at  the  full,  and  round  earth's  shore 
Lay  like  the  folds  of  a  bright  girdle  furled. 

Then  from  the  old  doubt  a  new  faith  emerged,  like  sweet 
waters  in  a  bitter  sea,  and  kept  man  a  living  soul. 

The  sea  is  calm  tonight; 
The  tide  is  full. 

The  tide  of  the  new  faith  was  the  faith  in  the  Bible,  and  in  the 
doctrines  derived  from  the  Bible,  but  this  tide  went  back  to 
sea,  and  now  one  only  hears: 

Its  melancholy,  long,  withdrawing  roar 

Retreating  to  the  breath 
Of  the  night-wind  down  the  vast  edges  drear 
And  naked  shingles  of  the  world. 


740        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

The  human  spirit  urged  a  new,  mightier  protest  against  the 
"It  is  written,"  which  was  said  to  put  an  end  to  all  doubt. 
The  new  doubt,  as  protestant  science,  as  free  inquiry,  flung 
down  the  gauntlet  to  the  old  Bible  faith.  No  page  of  the 
Sacred  Book  remained  unscrutinized.  Only  one  certainty 
spread  from  this  new  doubt — the  certainty  that  the  Sacred 
Book  was  a  human  book.  Therefore  allowing  and  ever 
rejoicing  in  the  moral  and  religious  value  of  many  a  page, 
the  biblical  canon  as  such  had  no  right  to  rule  over  man. 
Man  was  the  book's  judge;  the  book  was  not  man's 
judge.  The  book  must  be  measured  by  man's  truth,  man's 
conscience. 

The  modem  experience  of  doubt. — How,  now,  should  the 
timorous  heart  of  man  be  quieted  in  the  presence  of  this  new 
doubt  ?  At  once  new  props  were  offered — for  one  thing  the 
state.  What  the  church  was  to  the  mediaeval  man  the  state 
became  to  the  modern  man — God  manifest  in  the  flesh. 
Men  believed  in  their  state  as  in  their  Christ.  All  power 
in  heaven  and  on  earth  seemed  to  be  given  to  it.  What  was 
preached  in  the  name  of  the  state  was  a  gospel.  It  seemed  a 
sin  to  doubt  the  wisdom  of  the  state  at  all.  It  was  blasphemy 
to  contest  the  state's  claim  to  omnipotence.  Good  ?  What 
is  good  if  not  that  which  benefits  the  state  ?  True  ?  But 
where  is  there  truth  apart  from  the  word  that  is  the  ipse  dixit 
of  the  state  ?     The  political  end  sanctifies  any  means. 

Then  a  great  change  began.  Historic  study  and  the  doc- 
trine of  development,  together  with  the  new  ideals  of  per- 
sonality and  humanity,  decomposed  the  old  theory  of  the  state. 
Modern  man  came  to  see  that  the  state  does  not  possess 
eternal  life.  The  state  is  only  a  special  form  in  which  human 
social  Hfe  can  exist,  not  human  society  itself.  There  have  not 
always  been  states.  They  came  to  be  in  the  long  course  of  the 
evolution  of  a  people's  life.  What  comes  to  be  must  pay  its 
toll  to  Father  Time.  The  state  will  change — and  pass. 
Thus  its  inerrancy  and   finality  were   discredited.     If   we 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  MINISTERIAL  EFFICIENCY      741 

doubt  the  church,  why  not  the  state  too  ?  Man's  tottering 
Hfe  could  not  be  braced  up  by  either. 

Then  new  props  were  offered  man.  What  science  recog- 
nized as  "  true,"  what  morals  and  bourgeois  customs  recognized 
as  "good" — ^these  were  offered  him.  "Trust  the  light  of 
science,  and  you  shall  indeed  have  the  light  of  life;  do  what 
is  'good'  and  you  shall  indeed  be  crowned  with  the  crown  of 
life."  This  was  the  watchword.  Then  there  stirred  in  the 
womb  of  present-day  humanity  the  last,  ultimate,  uncanniest 
doubt.  If  we  doubt  faith,  why  not  doubt  science  too  ?  If 
we  doubt  the  church,  the  Bible,  the  state,  why  not  doubt 
reason,  doubt  knowledge,  doubt  morality?  Even  if  what 
we  call  "  true  "  be  really  true,  can  it  make  us  good  and  happy  ? 
Is  not  that  which  is  called  "good"  grievous  impediment  in 
our  pilgrimage  ?  Law,  morals — are  not  these  perhaps  a 
blunder  of  history,  an  old  hereditary  woe  with  which  humanity 
is  weighted  down  ?  Was  Stendhal  right  perhaps  in  his  judg- 
ment that  "  the  only  excuse  for  God  is  that  he  does  not  exist "  ? 

Here — here  is  the  agony  of  the  modern  world.  But  what 
can  our  current  "efficiency"  do  here — "efficiency"  with  its 
technique  and  machinery  and  money  and  organization  ?  At 
this  point  the  tragedy  of  life  passes  beyond  the  help  of  such 
things  and  of  institutional  religion.  Is  there  no  help  for  lost 
souls  any  more  ?  The  minister  who  cannot  cope  with  this 
deepest  need  of  the  modern  man  may  organize  superficial  and 
often  impertinent  reforms,  but  he  cannot  give  the  bread  of 
life.  He  may  minister  to  bodily  wants — ^good  enough  in  its 
way — but  he  leaves  the  soul  in  its  bewilderment  and  forsaken- 
ness. In  the  end  he  loses  confidence  and  abandons  his  funda- 
mental task.  Our  fathers  thought  of  the  Christian  minister 
as  prophet,  priest,  and  king.  This  watchword  "efficiency" 
tends  to  restrict  the  ministerial  function  to  that  of  king.  But 
the  need  of  the  times,  as  of  all  times,  is  satisfied  more  fully 
by  prophet  and  priest.  In  sum :  the  great  question  is  not  that 
of  efficiency,  but  of  the  criterion  of  efficiency.     It  would  be  the 


742        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

minister's  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  hath  never 
forgivenness,  were  he  to  truncate  and  abridge  the  nature  and 
need  of  man  so  that  our  institutionahzed  rehgion  of  scientific 
efficiency  could  sustain  an  easy  correlation  thereto. 

II.      THE    TASK   OF   THEOLOGY 

Thus  conceiving  the  function  of  the  ministry  in  the 
terrible  religious  situation  of  the  modern  world,  the  utility 
of  the  study  of  theology  in  our  divinity  schools  may  be 
estimated. 

Theology  is  the  science  of  faith,  of  religion.  Of  this 
statement  much  more  needs  to  be  said  than  can  be  said  here. 
While  science  and  religion  are  both  expressions  and  aids  of 
human  life,  they  are  different  in  form  and  function.  Briefly 
expressed,  religion  experiences,  science  calculates;  religion 
creates,  science  discovers;  religion  ventures,  science  weighs. 
Science  avails  itself  of  concepts  and  categories  and  laws; 
religion,  of  symbols  and  pictures  and  parables. 

Assuming  that  theology  is  a  science,  a  practical  difficulty 
at  once  confronts  us.  Can  theology  be  at  once  scientific 
and  ecclesiastical  ?  From  the  ecclesiastical  point  of  view  the 
aim  of  theology  has  been  to  clarify  and  increase  the  Christian's 
intelligence  as  regards  the  content  of  his  faith;  to  evince  the 
living  power  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  to  bring  this  home 
to  bear  upon  life  through  preaching,  teaching,  and  Christian 
communion.  From  the  scientific  point  of  view  theology  seeks 
to  be  free  from  the  control  and  needs  of  the  church,  to  be 
determined  solely  by  the  truth-interest,  by  the  impulse  to  know 
reality,  and  to  regard  no  law  but  its  own,  and  no  authority 
save  the  compulsion  of  its  subject-matter.  Since  the  second 
Christian  century  those  two  poles,  the  ecclesiastical  and  the 
scientific,  have  never  vanished.  But  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  they  have  ever  been  in  equilibrium.  Usually  the 
one  has  been  emphasized  at  the  expense  of  the  other.  Indeed, 
theology  is  usually  under  a  cross-fire  from  both  science  and 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  MINISTERIAL  EFFICIENCY      743 

faith — disowned  by  science,  distrusted  by  faith.  One  may 
recall  its  mediaeval  dignity  as  queen  of  the  sciences,  as  science 
was  then  understood;  but  since  the  rise  of  the  modern  scien- 
tific method,  theology  came  to  be  but  compassionately  toler- 
ated by  the  representatives  of  the  exact  sciences,  doubted  by 
many  of  its  own  representatives,  and  incriminated  by  the  laity 
as  the  primary  cause  of  all  the  evils  with  which  the  church  of 
the  present  was  infested.  It  was  thought  that  in  satisfying  the 
requirements  of  science  theology  betrayed  the  interests  of 
religion.  Hence  the  question  became  acute:  Can  theology 
be  at  once  scientific  from  the  point  of  view  of  science  and 
serviceable  from  the  point  of  view  of  practicable  Christianity  ? 
Is  the  study  of  theology  a  sufficient  or  even  a  suitable  prepara- 
tion for  the  office  of  preacher  and  pastor  ?  Does  theology 
destroy  the  preacher's  message,  lower  the  preacher's  piety, 
impair  the  preacher's  usefulness  ? 

Facing  the  problem  thus  fundamentally  one  may  be 
permitted  to  dismiss  certain  superficial  or  captious  objections. 
For  example,  it  is  pointed  out  that  the  scientific  study  of 
theology  in  a  divinity  school  has  occasionally  impelled  students 
to  abandon  the  ministry.  Such  abandonment  may  be  due  to 
the  popular  theology  and  nominal  Christianity  in  which  he 
was  indoctrinated  before  he  went  to  the  divinity  school; 
or  the  student,  as  was  the  case  with  Emerson  and  Kant  and 
Hegel,  may  enter  upon  a  larger  human  service  than  that 
which  a  local  church  could  afford.  Besides,  the  occasional 
abandonment  of  the  ministry  under  the  influence  of  scientific 
theology  does  not  discredit  such  theology,  if  it  is  seen  to  be 
in  general  useful,  any  more  than  would  be  the  case  in  the 
analogous  situation  of  law  or  medicine.  But  if  it  be  true^as 
sometimes  true  it  is — that  now  and  then  a  theological  student 
makes  shipwreck  of  faith,  even  this  disaster  does  not  constitute 
a  decisive  objection,  since  this  is  a  world  where  such  shipwreck 
is  possible  from  many  causes,  one  of  them  being  the  absence  of 
sound  theological  training. 


744        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

Other  objectors  ask:  Why  is  it  that  so  many  students  who 
have  studied  scientific  theology  cannot  preach?  It  might 
not  be  amiss  to  inquire  whether  they  could  preach  if  they  had 
not  studied  scientific  theology.  As  a  rule  the  academic  and 
technical  character  of  the  young  minister  wears  away  as  the 
years  bring  him  experience  and  maturity,  suffering  and  sorrow 
of  his  own,  sickness  and  death  of  others.  His  fault  is  more 
likely  to  be  a  neglect  of  theological  study  than  a  bad  use  of  it. 

But  we  may  pass  by  such  objections  and  return  to  the  main 
issue.  ■ 

Theology  and  vocational  demands. — Let  us  assume  that 
theology  is  in  method  a  "pure"  science,  in  purpose  an 
"applied"  science — avoiding  the  extremes  of  academic  book- 
ishness  and  of  the  narrow  practicalism  of  "efficiency."  Let 
us  grant — as  the  truth-interest  requires  us  to  grant — that 
the  purity  must  not  be  adulterated  by  the  application.  Pure 
science  is  free  science  and — in  Hegelian  phrase,  not  to  be  prag- 
matically flouted — has  the  theoretical  self-end  of  knowledge. 
Now,  by  virtue  of  this  very  character  of  theological  science, 
is  there  some  service  which  it  may  render  the  ministry  ?  A 
science  which  serves  the  self- cognition  of  spirit  serves  thereby 
one  of  the  supreme,  practical  ends  of  life,  which  is  self-realiza- 
tion of  spirit.  Only  an  officially  infallible  church  can  do  with- 
out the  aid  of  such  science.  Ministers,  like  politicians,  are 
especially  tempted  to  debasement  of  the  truth-interest — 
to  sham  learning,  sham  religion.  The  great  sin  of  ministers 
can  easily  be  the  infraction  of  the  ethics  of  the  intellect. 
Theological  science  is  developing  a  fine  sincerity  in  our  relation 
to  both  theology  and  religion.  Such  honesty  and  sobriety 
of  judgment  are  among  a  minister's  best  assets  in  our  age  of 
doubt.  They  go  toward  the  formation  of  personality,  which 
is  at  once  the  primary  need  of  man  and  the  main  concern  of  all 
education. 

Should  theology  be  restricted  to  the  so-called  applied,  or, 
better  perhaps,  vocational  sciences,  as  some  divinity  schools 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  MINISTERIAL  EFFICIENCY      745 

seek  to  do,  a  problem  of  no  little  gravity  would  arise.  Would 
the  new  vocationally  determined  science  be  any  more  free 
and  pure  than  the  old  authoritatively  determined  science  ?  Is 
not  a  post-determined  science  by  an  end  externally  imposed 
as  prejudicial  to  the  critical  occupation  of  the  scientific 
spirit  as  a  predetermined  science  by  a  cause  or  authority  which 
proscribes  freedom  and  dictates  conclusions  ?  Is  the  pull  of  an 
ahen  finalism  any  better  than  the  push  of  an  alien  mechanism  ? 
If  authority-science  gives  doctrine  and  not  truth,  does  not 
vocation-science  give  practice  and  not  truth  ?  There  is 
something  here  that  should  be  borne  in  mind  lest  we  impair 
the  truth-interest,  so  inalienable  to  our  highest  life  as  students 
and  ministers.  Extremes  meet,  and  it  would  be  an  ugly  situa- 
tion were  "authority"  and  "vocation"  to  combine  upon  us 
in  such  a  way  that  our  natural  impulse  to  know  should  be 
wounded  and  weakened.  This  evil  may  be  avoided  by  honor- 
ing the  study  of  scientific  theology  as  corrective  and  supple- 
mentation of  vocational  science,  ever  inclined  to  deteriorate 
to  an  immediate  and  narrow  professionalism. 

The  need  of  the  scientific  spirit  in  theology. — But  theology 
in  all  its  branches — ^historical,  psychological,  philosophical — • 
as  "pure"  science  does  serve  the  vocational  ends  of  the  minis- 
try, even  if  it  does  not  directly  and  consciously  aim  to  do  so. 

For  one  thing,  it  is  indispensable  to  a  reasoned  understand- 
ing of  what  religion  really  is.  In  defining  anything  one  speed- 
ily turns  to  see  how  it  came  to  be  and  what  it  is  for.  Thus, 
one  knows  a  religious  idea,  or  a  religious  deed,  only  as  one  sees 
how  it  has  historically  and  psychologically  emerged,  and  what 
function  it  fulfils  in  a  people's  or  an  individual's  life.  Besides, 
one  requires  to  know  the  relation  between  idea  and  action  in 
religion,  the  order  of  the  emergence  of  magic,  cult,  myth,  idea, 
doctrine,  and  their  relations  to  each  other.  Especially 
does  one  need  to  know  how  to  face  the  problem  as  to  what  is 
primary  and  what  secondary  and  impermanent  in  religion. 
It  appears  that  religion  is  not  exhausted  as  a  short  circuit 


746        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

to  the  real  by  way  of  instinct  and  feeling.  The  science  of 
religion  shows  that  there  is  a  deep  truth  in  this.  Most  of 
the  best  things  in  life  are  rooted  in  instinct — which  is  perhaps 
just  another  way  of  saying  that  we  are  still  ignorant  of  their 
precise  conditions  and  causes.  But  religion,  if  it  is  worth 
while,  is  not  merely  a  matter  of  instinct  and  emotion.  It  is  a 
legitimate  part  of  man's  rational  nature.  The  substance 
of  religion  is  not  in  the  ceremonies  and  creeds  and  institutions 
which  have  been  built  up  in  connection  with  church,  but 
in  man's  consciousness  that  the  best  part  of  him  lies  in  his 
ideals  and  in  his  earnest  and  sincere  efforts  to  realize  these 
ideals.  It  is  the  recognition  that  the  spiritual  center  of  gravity 
of  his  life  lies,  not  in  what  he  is  or  has  been,  but  in  what  he 
feels  that  he  ought  to  become.  The  only  study  that  leads  us 
into  this  most  needful  insight  for  our  work  as  preachers  is  that 
of  scientific  theology. 

But,  for  another  thing,  such  study  yields  impressive 
testimony  to  the  human  cry  for  God.  That  cry— whether 
joyous  and  triumphant,  or  painful,  pathetic,  poignant — ■ 
reverberates  from  land  to  land  and  from  century  to  century. 
The  very  import  of  human  history  is  its  mysterious  and  uni- 
versal urgency  and  awfulness.  Whether  it  be  the  vague 
cosmological  gropings  of  a  primitive  animism  with  its  crass 
anthropomorphizing  of  duty  and  personification  of  inanimate 
objects ;  whether  it  be  the  passionate  searching  out  of  concepts 
or  essences  by  Socrates,  Plato,  and  the  Scholastics,  with  their 
confident  assurance  of  the  existence  of  an  archet3T3al  reality; 
whether  it  be  the  blended  love  and  fear  with  which  the  intense 
and  mystical  Semites  worshiped  Yahweh  and  dared  finally  in 
the  Greatest  of  the  Hebrews  to  claim  Divinity  itself;  whether 
it  be  the  masterful  executive  ability  with  which  the  mediaeval 
ecclesiastics  sought  to  embody  a  spiritual  world  in  a  temporal, 
even  in  a  political  hierarchy;  whether  it  be  the  refreshing 
directness  with  which  the  Protestants  sought  to  re-establish 
an  immediate  relation  of  the  believer  with  his  God ;  whether 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  MINISTERIAL  EFFICIENCY      747 

it  be  the  pathetic  attempts  of  modern  apologists  to  reconcile 
Genesis  and  Darwinism,  or  the  wistful  admission  of  the  man  of 
science  that  he  has  scanned  the  heavens  with  his  telescope 
and  found  not  God — whether  it  be  one  or  all  of  these  earnest 
and  honest  endeavors  of  man  to  understand  his  world  and 
his  own  experience,  the  study  of  theology  makes  us  recognize 
throughout,  always  and  everywhere,  the  search  for  the  unity 
and  continuity  of  the  life  and  love  of  man  with  an  eternal 
and  fatherly  God.  The  value  of  this  world-old  and  world-wide 
witness  to  the  minister  of  religion  is  obvious.  It  is  quite  the 
fashion  in  some  modern  circles  to  pride  one's  self  on  one's 
unbelief — though  why  what  one  does  not  believe  should  be 
so  admirable  is  not  so  immediately  evident.  It  is  much  more 
to  the  point,  one  would  think,  to  pride  one's  self  on  the  number 
of  truths  one  had  found  at  the  core  of  current  superstitions. 
But  it  is  only  through  the  study  of  theology  in  all  its  branches 
that  one  acquires  the  judgment  and  skill  to  make  such  dis- 
coveries. 

How  does  the  scientific  study  of  theology  equip  the 
preacher? — With  these  general  considerations  in  mind  we 
may  very  well  close  by  isolating  for  special  remark  those 
specific  questions  which  were  raised  a  moment  ago. 

The  first  of  those  questions  is  the  efifect  of  the  study  of 
theology  upon  the  definite  message  of  the  preacher. 

Biblical  infallibility  now  abandoned,  the  idea  that  the 
source  and  certainty  of  the  preacher's  message  are  rooted 
in  God's  dictation  and  donation  of  truth  is  no  longer  tenable. 
The  props  that  upheld  him  in  the  old  orthodox  days  are 
virtually  all  gone.  The  easy  gift  of  authoritative  truth  has 
been  denied  him  once  for  all.  The  study  of  a  deposit  of  truth 
must  give  way  to  the  search  for  reality. 

The  case  is  quite  the  same  in  this  regard  if  one  turns  from 
orthodoxy  to  rationalism,  which  undertook  to  replace  the 
finished  and  final  truth  of  revealed  and  authoritative  biblical 
religion.     According  to  rationalism,  the  human  mind  possesses 


748        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

a  priori  a  sum  of  theoretical  and  practical  ideas,  untarnished 
by  the  corruptions  and  contingencies  of  experiential  origin, 
from  which  absolute  truth  may  be  easily  deduced.  A  religion 
of  reason,  consisting  essentially  of  the  ideas  of  God,  of  free- 
dom, of  the  moral  law,  and  of  immortality,  supplemented  the 
religion  of  revelation  at  first,  but  subsequently  became  a  forum 
before  which  the  truth  and  error  of  all  positive  historical 
religions  were  adjudicated.  The  task  of  the  old  rationalistic 
clergyman  who  expounded  the  parsimonious  content  of  truth 
inborn  in  his  own  reason,  and  skilfully  demonstrated  its  agree- 
ment with  Christianity,  was  simpler  and  shorter  than  the  task 
of  the  orthodox  clergyman  burdened  with  the  study  of  biblical 
languages,  with  exegesis  and  harmonizings  with  creeds  and 
confessions.  But  the  intellectual  and  critical  movements 
of  the  modern  world  have  remorselessly  demolished  this  naive 
rationahsm.  As  to  those  innate  ideas,  John  Locke  searched 
the  infant  mind  and  reported  that  he  could  not  find  any  of 
them.  He  found  that  ideas  are  of  temporal  and  empirical 
origin.  Thus  their  fixed  and  eternal  truths  were  under- 
mined. Kant  followed  with  his  proof  that  the  content  of  the 
religion  of  reason  could  not  be  object  of  rational  knowledge, 
but  only  of  faith.  The  outcome  was  that  the  authority  of 
reason  went  the  way  of  the  authority  of  the  Bible.  All 
finished  and  fixed  authorities  fell,  even  that  of  conscience, 
since  it  too  was  unfinished  and  temporally  and  spatially 
conditioned.     Of  all  this  earher  mention  will  be  recalled. 

In  all  these  ways  the  task  of  the  minister  grew  more  diffi- 
cult, more  grievous.  In  the  absence  of  easy  donations  of 
truth  from  an  inerrant  book,  he  must  seek  and  try  and  doubt 
and  test,  with  an  open  and  candid  truth-loving  spirit.  The 
study  of  theology  becomes  more  important  than  ever.  This 
importance  consists,  not  simply  in  the  ascertainment  of  the 
truth,  but  especially  in  the  formation  of  a  religious  person- 
aHty.  Through  historical  and  philosophical  study  of  the 
dissolution  of  orthodoxy  and  of  rationalism  the  student  reca- 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  MINISTERIAL  EFFICIENCY      749 

pitulates  and  epitomizes  the  terrible  experience  of  doubt,  learns 
that  religion  is  ever  changing,  ever  in  the  making,  and  thus 
becomes  personally  prepared  to  meet  the  needs  and  difficulties 
of  our  age  of  doubt  and  transition  and  growth.  It  is  not 
simply  truth,  but  the  truthful  man,  tried  in  the  fires  of  critical 
theological  research,  that  can  win  the  confidence  of  our 
bewildered  and  discouraged  religious  Hfe.  Men  who  ask 
whether  Christianity  is  final  or  transient,  even  whether  rehgion 
is  an  illusion  or  a  verity,  cannot  abide  an  answer  from  those 
ministers  who  have  themselves  never  asked  in  anguish,  and 
who  cannot  answer  with  sincerity  out  of  the  earnestness  and 
courage  of  their  own  hearts. 

Reverting  to  the  question  of  the  influence  of  theological 
study  upon  the  personal  piety  of  the  student,  the  possibilities 
are  the  dependence  of  piety  upon  theology — in  which  case 
theology  could  conceivably  destroy  or  sustain  piety;  or  the 
dependence  of  theology  upon  piety,  faith,  religion,  with  the 
reverse  alternative  to  the  former;  or,  finally,  the  complete 
or  partial  independence  of  the  two.  Representatives  of  each 
of  these  possibilities  have  been  numerous  in  the  history  of  the 
church.  In  the  end  theology  annihilates  faith — so  the  second- 
century  church  maintained  against  Clement  the  Alexandrian 
theologian,  and  so  Overbeck,  for  example,  argues  in  recent 
years.  Moreover,  many  a  theological  student  feels  as  if  the 
critical  work  in  the  classroom  of  a  scientific  theologian  was 
a  deadly  assault  upon  his  faith. 

Were  this  indeed  true  there  would  be  no  help  for  it,  since 
science  cannot  submit  to  quarantine  from  any  region  of  reality 
that  is  accessible  to  examination,  and  since  a  faith  that  fears 
scrutiny  is  already  enfeebled  through  self -distrust.  For  all 
the  future,  it  would  seem,  the  piety  that  resists  research  is 
foredoomed  to  atrophy.  Indeed,  part  of  the  purpose  of  the 
study  of  theology  is  to  subject  our  piety  to  the  laws  of  survival. 
But  while  some  divinity  students  make  shipwreck  of  faith — a 
possible  price  to  be  paid  to  the  right  of  science — the  usual 


750        GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

outcome  is  a  destruction,  not  of  faith,  but  of  the  inherited 
form  of  faith.  As  a  rule  the  student  closes  his  years  of 
special  study  with  his  faith  purged  and  strengthened,  and 
adapted  as  never  before  to  nourish  and  hearten  him  for  the 
battle  of  life  and  the  fulness  of  service.  Ceasing  to  be  a  quan- 
tum of  past  beliefs,  his  faith  becomes  an  interior  attitude  of 
his  spirit,  which  science  cannot  take  away. 

The  opposite  position — advocated  strenuously  in  recent 
years  by  Bollinger — is  quite  out  of  harmony  with  the  philo- 
sophic temper  and  thought  of  our  new  day.  Its  thesis  is  that 
theory  precedes  practice,  that  knowledge  is  the  foundation  of 
practical  piety,  that  knowledge  of  God  is  the  prius  of  faith  in 
God,  finally,  that  this  knowledge  is  not  traditional  (in  which 
case  there  would  be  no  way  to  decide  whether  it  was  true  or 
false),  but  demonstrative.  It  is  clear  that  such  a  contention 
is  a  reversion  to  an  obsolete  rationalism  with  its  theistic 
arguments  and  the  like. 

Admitting,  as  a  truth  at  which  it  hints,  that  there  is  an 
intellectual  "moment"  in  the  religious  consciousness,  still  one 
of  the  great  merits  of  scientific  theology  is  its  recognition  that 
the  way  to  God  is  not  proof,  but  prayer;  that  we  know  God 
because  we  have  faith  in  him,  rather  than  have  faith  in  him 
because  we  know  him.  Modern  theology  has  probably  done 
no  more  important  service  than  to  clarify  this  problem. 

There  remains  the  possibility  for  which  no  less  men  than 
Kant  and  Schleiermacher  stood,  as  have  many  Ritschlians, 
namely,  the  reciprocal  neutrality  of  theology  and  piety. 

"Extreme  as  this  position  is,  there  is  an  important  distinc- 
tion between  religion  and  theology,  a  distinction  in  form 
and  function.  Suffice  it  to  say  here  that  one  of  the  purposes 
of  the  study  of  theology  is  to  acquire  a  thorough  understand- 
ing of  this  whole  matter.  Otherwise  it  would  hardly  be 
possible  for  the  student  to  escape  confusion  and  aberration. 
Failure  to  make  such  an  escape  would  later  yield  the  injurious 
result  of  misleading  his  church  into  a  piety  without  knowledge 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  MINISTERIAL  EFFICIENCY      751 

or  a  knowledge  without  piety,  or  an  identification  of  the  two — 
an  evil  to  which  the  pages  of  church  history  bear  impressive 
witness.  The  distinction,  for  instance,  between  the  living 
real  God  and  a  concept  God  is  vital  to  peace  of  mind  and  to 
the  power  of  the  gospel  today. 

With  reference  to  this  whole  question,  it  may  be  said  that 
usually  the  candidate  for  the  ministry — young  though  he 
may  sometimes  be — enters  the  divinity  school  as  a  finished 
religious  and  theological  product,  but  that  in  consequence 
of  his  studies  there  he  departs  unfinished,  growing  aware  that 
his  personality,  with  its  religion  and  its  theology,  are  alike  in 
the  making.  A  divinity  school  that  achieves  such  a  result  has 
fulfilled  its  function  in  the  life  of  the  human  spirit. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Absoluteness  of  Christianity,  555  ff. 

Acts,  Book  of,  194. 

Alexandrian  theology,  62,  318. 

Anabaptists,  400  ff.,  402. 

Ancestor-worship,  40. 

Animism,  38. 

Anselm,  67,  349. 

Apologetics,  modern  task  of,  478, 
541  flf- 

Apologists,  300  ff. 

Apostolic  authority,  314,  316,  330. 

Aquinas,  349. 

Archaeology andHebrew  history,  1 28  f. 

Architecture  of  churches,  603. 

Arminianism,  416,  419,  470. 

Assurance,  536,  549  f. 

Augustine,  66,  342. 

Authority,  75  f.;  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, 150;  of  the  New  Testament, 
234;  of  the  apostles,  314,  316,  330; 
of  the  pope,  346;  modern  revolt 
against,  433  f.,  447  f.;  attitude  of 
rationalism  toward,  454;  in  theol- 
ogy, 488,  494  f.,  541;  in  preaching, 
583;   in  church  poHty,  595  f. 

Baalim,  138. 

Baptism,  294,  320,  334,  551,  553. 

Baptists,  425  f. 

Bible:  use  of,  in  theology,  148  f., 
232  f.,  496  f.,  555;  use  of ,  in  preach- 
ing, 157  S.,  235,  583  ff.;  use  of, 
in  education,  652,  658;  and  social 
problems,  684  f . 

Biblical  criticism,  23  f.,  120  f.,  204  f., 
208,  220  ff.,  230,  460  ff. 

Biblical  theology,  149,  229,  555. 
Bourgeois  social  mind,  70. 

Calvin,  383  f. 

Calvinism:  in  Geneva,  384  f.;  in 
Scotland,  387  f.;  in  the  Nether- 
lands, 389  f.;    in  France,  392;    in 


Germany,  394;  estimate  of,  395; 
controversies   in,   418  f. 

Canon:  of  the  Old  Testament,  144; 
of  the  New  Testament,  224  ff.,  310. 

Catholicism,  68,  73;  rise  of,  315  ff., 
330;  development  of,  329-55;  ideal 
of,  329  f.;  Greek,  338  f.;  Western, 
339  f.;  and  the  Reformation,  407; 
Counter-reformation  in,  406  ff.; 
relation  of,  to  modern  thought, 
439  f.;  method  of  theology  in,  496; 
ethics  of,  564. 

Catholicity,  spirit  of,  in  modern 
Christianity,  438  f. 

Certainty,  536,  549  f. 

Charity,  697  f. 

Christian:  doctrine  development  of, 
51  ff.;  ethics,  561  ff.;  life  in  early 
times,  298  ff.;  life,  doctrine  of, 
533  ff.;  life,  training  for,  574  ff.; 
socialism,  473;  union,  480, 607  f., 7 18. 

Christianity:  generic,  52,  77  ff.;  early, 
241-326;  ethics  of,  561  ff.;  devel- 
opmental nature  of,  243  f.,  493  f., 
558,684;  in  the  post-apostolic  age, 
291;  relation  of,  to  Judaism,  272, 
275  ff.,  291  f.;  relation  of,  to  the 
Roman  state,  293;  Western,  distin- 
guished from  Eastern,  340  f.;  prob- 
lem of  determining  the  content  of, 
494  ff.;  absoluteness  of,  555  ff.;  in 
relation  to  other  faiths,  559  ff.;  and 
social  problems,  577,  679-710. 

Christology,  58,  62  f.,  283,  296  f., 
302  f.,  311,  313,  319  f.,  331  f.,  335, 
526  ff. 

Church:  relation  of,  to  Jesus,  267  f.; 
beginnings  of,  274  f.;  organization 
of,  in  Catholicism,  ;i^^;  relation  of, 
to  the  state,  335  f.,  338,  339,  346  f., 
386,  398,  421  ff.,  441  ff.;  adminis- 
tration, 599  ff.;  finance,  605;  polity, 
594  ff.;  relation  of,  to  social  prob- 
lems, 608  f.,  679  ff.,  720  ff.;  relation 
of,  to  industrialism,  694  f.;  modern 
social  mission  of,  710  ff.;  resources 
of,  712  ff.,  716  ff.;  defects  of,  714  ff. 


7SS 


756       GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 


Churches:  organization  of,  in  early 
Christianity,  286,  294;  types  of,  in 
modern  life,  594  ff.,  599  ff.,  604  f. 

College:  courses  in,  leading  to  theo- 
logical study,  5  fif.,  i6fi.;  relation 
of,  to  theological  education,  4;  reli- 
gious life  in,  12  fT. 

Colossians,  Epistle  to,  184. 

Comparative  religion  and  missions, 
477- 

Congregationalism,  425. 

Conversion,  670. 

Corinthians,  Epistles  to,  186. 

Council  of  Trent,  411. 

Counter-reformation,  406  fT. 

Criticism:  textual,  23  f.,  204  f.,  208; 
historical,  24  f.,  120  f.,  230,  460  fl.; 
"higher,"  24  f.,  462;  history  of, 
220  ff.,  461  f.;   and  theology,  490  f. 

Cyprian,  317,  334. 

Deism,  69,  453. 

Democracy:  and  theology,  71,  76, 
437,  517;  and  church  polity,  597. 

Denominations,  607  f. 

Diaspora,  249  f. 

Doctrine:  development  of,  46  S., 
51  ff.,  72  ff.;  in  post-apostolic 
times,  295;  development  of,  in 
Catholicism,  330  ff.;  relation  of,  to 
experience,  493,  499  ff.,  508  ff'., 
524  f.,  533;  relation  of,  to  preaching, 
586. 

Doubt,  518,  520,  550,  740. 

Early  Christianity :  sources  for  knowl- 
edge of,  170-72;  environment  of, 
177  f.,  241  ff.;  study  of,  241-326; 
scope  of,  241  f.;  nature  of,  243  f.; 
ethical  ideals  of,  562,  680. 

Easter  controversy,  319. 

Ebionites,  270. 

Education,  meaning  of,  640  ff.,  731  f. 

Emperor-worship,  247. 

English  Bible,  study  of,  103,  218. 

Ephesians,  Epistle  to,  184. 

Eschatology,  141,  287,  538  f. 

Ethics:  of  early  Christianity,  298  ff., 
562  f.;  of  Catholicism,  564  f.;  of 
Protestantism,  566  f.;  modern  con- 


ception of,  569  ff.;  and  religious 
faith,  573  f.;  and  preaching,  587  ff. 

Eucharist,  294,  338. 

Evangelistic  preaching,  587  f. 

Evil,  problem  of,  515. 

Evolution:  conception  of,  8;  of  reli- 
gion, 30  ff.;   of  social  ideals,  689  ff. 

Experience  and  theology,  498  f. 

Fetichism,  39. 

Feudalism:    and  theology,  67  f.;   and 

the  church,  347. 
Future  life,  538  ff. 

Galatians,  Epistle  to,  186. 

Gentile  Christianity:    beginnings  of, 

277  f.;   in  the  apostolic  age,  280  ff.; 

in  post-apostolic  times,  289. 
God,  doctrine  of,  44  f.,  513  ff. 
Gnosticism,  61,  72  f.,  305  ff.;  relation 

of,  to  Paul,  307;  doctrines  of,  310  ff. 
Gospels,  190  f.,  257  f.,  290. 
Graeco-Roman  world,  59  f.,  244  ff. 
Greek:   language,  6,  201  ff.;  theology, 

57;   Catholic  church,  338  f. 

Hebrew:     language,    6,    85  ff.,    103; 

history,    119  ff.,    133  ff.;     religion, 

136  ff.,  679. 
Hebrews,  Epistle  to,  182,  195. 
Hellenistic  social  mind,  59  f. 
Hellenists,  276. 
Heresy:    nature  of,  53,  489,  495;    in 

early  Christianity,  296. 
Higher  criticism,  24  f.,  462. 
Historical:     criticism,    24  f.,    120  ff., 

169,  230,  259,  462  ff.;  interpretation, 

170,  177,  223,  229  f.,  458  ff.,  493, 
506  ff.,  584;  method,  vi,  vii,  21  f., 
26  ff.,  166,  223,  329,  458  ff.,  492. 

History:  value  of  the  study  of,  8, 
690  f.,  695;  nature  of,  21,  26  ff.; 
sources  for  writing  of,  21-23;  Phi- 
losophy of,  26;  of  religion,  28  ff. 

Holy  Roman  Empire,  364. 

Holy  Spirit,  56  f.,  276,  299,  533  ff, 

Homiletics,  582  ff.,  592  f. 

Humanity,  spirit  of,  in  modern  reli- 
gion, 435. 

Hymnology,  621  f. 


INDEX 


757 


Imperialistic  social  mind,  64  f. 

Incarnation,  doctrine  of,  62. 

Independency,  424. 

Industrial  revolution,  472. 

Industry,  development  of,  692  ff. 

Inspiration,  669. 

Interpretation:  task  of,  83,  117  f., 
1 74  ff . ;  of  the  Old  Testament,  145  f. ; 
of  the  New  Testament,  167  flf., 
220  ff.;  literary,  175;  allegorical, 
176,  220;  mystical,  176;  dogmatic, 
176;  grammatico-historical,  177; 
grammatical,  210  ff.;  logical,  213  ff. 

Interpretative  bias,  123  f.,  255. 

Irenaeus,  316. 

James,  Epistle  of,  198. 

Jesus:  work  of,  253  ff. ;  relation  of,  to 
Judaism,  253  f.;  relation  of,  to  John 
the  Baptist,  254  ff.;  problem  of  as- 
certaining the  facts  of  his  life, 
25s  ff-,  527;  messianic  conscious- 
ness of,  261  ff.;  early  interpreta- 
tions of,  267  f.;  resurrection  of, 
273  f.;  modern  interpretations  of, 
529  f.;    social  ideals  of,  679. 

Jesuits,  408. 

Jewish  Christianity,  272  f. 

John  the  Baptist,  254. 

John:  Gospel  of,  196  f.;  Epistles  of, 
197. 

Judaism,  142,  2482.;  religious  insti- 
tutions of,  251;  parties  in,  252; 
personal  religion  of,  265  ff.;  and 
early  Christianity,  272,  275  ff. 

Jude,  Epistle  of,  198. 

Kant,  454  f. 

Kingdom  of  God,  138,  154,  323,  329, 

345,  538,  562,  704,  710. 
Knox,  John,  388. 

Labor  problem,  724. 

Language-study,  value  of,  5. 

Latin:    language,  6;    world,  religious 

ideas  of,  64  f. 
Law:  Hebrew,  142;   Canon,  348. 
Legalism,  234. 
Lexicography,  88,  201  f. 
Liberalism,  498. 


Liberty:  of  thought,  414  f.,  433;  reli- 
gious, 421  ff.,  433,  441  ff. 

Literary  criticism,  24  f.,  104  ff.,  230, 
259- 

Liturgies,  614  ff. 

Liturgies,  618  f. 

Logos,  62  f.,  303,  331,  335. 

Loyola,  408. 

Luke,  Gospel  of,  189  ff.,  258. 

Luther,  349,  365,  377  f. 

Lutheranism,  363  ff.,  369  ff.;  in  Den- 
mark, Norway,  and  Sweden,  373; 
in  England,  Scotland,  and  Holland, 
374  f. ;  in  France,  Spain,  and  Italy, 
376  f.;  theology  of,  377  ff.;  esti- 
mate of,  379;  controversies  in,  417. 

Maccabean  period,  250. 

Magic  and  religion,  39  f. 

Manicheism,  320. 

Manuscripts:  of  the  Old  Testament, 
91 ;  of  the  New  Testament,  206  f. 

Mark,  Gospel  of,  190  f.,  257. 

Massoretic  text,  90  ff. 

Matthew,  Gospel  of,  189  ff.,  258^ 

Mediaeval  Christianity,  329-55,  682. 

Messianism,  55  ff.,  140,  261  ff.,  272  f., 
287. 

Methodist  movement,  471. 

Ministry,  types  of,  602  f. 

Miracles:  of  Jesus,  263  f.;  in  Hellen- 
istic thought,  264;  in  modern 
thought,  511,  541,  551 ff- 

Missions:  in  early  Christianity,  276  f.; 
Pauline,  284  ff.;  of  the  monks, 
342  f.;  in  modern  times,  476  ff., 
717  f.;  organization  of,  625  ff.; 
problems  of,  633  ff. 

Modern  Christianity:  development 
of,  431-82;  relation  of,  to  Catholi- 
cism, 439  f.;  relation  of,  to  Protes- 
tantism, 439  f. 

Modernism,  68,  74,  440,  487. 

Modern-positive  theology,  502  f. 

Modern  social  mind,  71. 

Monarchical  religion,  42  f.,  322  f. 

Monasticism,  337,  342  f. 

Montanism,  320. 

Mystery-religions,  59,  247,  283. 


758       GUIDE  TO  STUDY  OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 


Mysticism,  351,  674. 
Mythology  and  religion,  47,  304. 

Nationalistic  social  mind,  68  f. 

New  Testament:  in  relation  to  the 
Old,  147,  225  f.;  study  of ,  164-238; 
origin  of,  180,  220  ff.,  314;  canon 
of,  220  ff.;  value  of,  today,  228  ff.; 
in  relation  to  theology,  232  f.;  in 
relation  to  personal  religion,  233  f.; 
in  relation  to  preaching,  235. 

Nicene  theology,  60  ff. 

Old  Testament:  study  of,  83-161; 
religious  value  of,  144  f. ;  canon  of, 
144;  in  relation  to  the  New,  147  f., 
225  f.;  in  relation  to  theology, 
148  ff.;  in  relation  to  vital  religion, 
151  ff.;  in  relation  to  preaching, 
157  ff.;  theology  of,  149  f. 

Ontological  problem,  548  ff. 

Origen,  318,  332. 

Orthodoxy:  nature  of,  55;  place  of, 
in  doctrinal  development,  74  f., 
296  f.,  486  f.;  in  the  Eastern  church, 
338  f.;  in  Protestantism,  496  f. 

Palestine:  geography  of,  125  f.;  eco- 
nomic resources  of,  127. 

Palestinian:  Judaism,  250  f.;  Jewish 
Christianity,  270  ff.,  278  f. 

Papacy,  339,  344  ff.,  350  f.,  366. 

Pastoral:  care,  610  ff.;  epistles,  183. 

Paul:  letters  of,  182  ff.;  conversion 
of,  282;  missionary  career  of, 
284  ff.;  religion  of,  287. 

Penance,  334,  339. 

Persecutions,  293,  321,  333,  442. 

Peshitta,  99. 

Peter,  Epistles  of,  196,  198. 

Philippians,  Epistle  to,  186. 

Philosophy,  value  of,  11;  relation  of, 
to  theology,  48,  72,  514  f.;  Hellen- 
istic, 247;  modern,  452  ff.;  idealis- 
tic and  theology,  504  f. 

Politics,  relation  of,  to  theology,  48, 50. 

Practical  theology,  581-676. 

Pragmatism,  49. 

Prayer,  536,  671. 

Preaching:  function  of,  522  ff.;  rela- 
tion of,  to  the  Bible,  584  ff. 


Presbyterianism,  389,  424. 

Primitive  religions,  38. 

Prophets  of  Israel,  138,  143,  152  f., 
160. 

Protestantism,  359-427;  controver- 
sies in,  416  ff.;  disintegration  of, 
404  ff.;  orthodoxy  in,  496  f.;  rela- 
tion of,  to  modern  thought,  439  f.; 
ethics  of,  566  f. 

Psychology:  value  of,  4,  572;  of  reli- 
gion, 647,  663  ff. 

Rationalism,  414  ff.,  420  ff.,  434,  453. 

Reformation:  Protestant,  359-427; 
main  forces  in,  3595.;  social  as- 
pects of,  360;   political  aspects  of, 

360,  367  ff.;  intellectual  aspects  of, 
361;  moral  and  religious  aspects  of, 

361,  369  f.;  in  Germany,  364  ff.;  in 
Switzerland,  380  ff.,  384;  Calvinist, 
383  ff.;  in  England,  396  ff.;  esti- 
mate of,  426  f.,  683. 

Reformed  churches,  379  ff. 

Regulafidei,  55,  61,  62,  63,  73,  74. 

Religion:  history  of,  28  ff.;  evolution 
of,  30  f.;  nature  of,  32  f.,  34,  36,  46, 
508  ff.;  theories  as  to  the  origin  of, 
^:i;  primitive,  38  ff.;  tribal,  40  f.; 
monarchical,  42  ff.;  of  Israel, 
136  ff.,  151  ff.;  cosmic  significance 
of,  510  ff.;  ethical  significance  of, 
512  ff. 

Religionsgeschichtliche  school,  30,  464. 

Religious  education,  640  ff.,  663. 

Renaissance,  352,  683. 

Resurrection:  beliefs  of  the  early 
Christians  concerning,  273  f.;  mod- 
ern conception  of,  538. 

Revelation:  Book  of,  194  f.;  concep- 
tion of,  in  theology,  555. 

Ritschl,  456  f. 

Ritschlianism,  500  ff. 

Roman  Empire  and  Christianity,  245. 

Romans,  Epistle  to,  186. 

Sacraments,  350. 

Sacrifice,  41. 

Salvation,  doctrine  of,  5 19  ff. 

Samaritan  Pentateuch,  98. 

Schleiermacher,  455,  499,  509. 


INDEX 


759 


Science:  value  of  the  study  of,  7,  544; 
relation  of,  to  religious  belief,  466  ff ., 

543  S.,  549-  745  ff- 

Scientific    method:     7,    433,    446  ff., 

544  f.;    and   ministerial  efficiency, 
730-51- 

Secularism  in  modern  thought,  435, 

733  f- 
Semitic:  social  mind,  54;  world,  132  f. 

Septuagint,  94  fif. 

Sermon,  modern  form  of,  590  f. 

Sin,  problem  of,  521. 

Social:  gospel,  539;  leadership,  687!!., 
699  ff. ;  movement,  436,  466  ff . ;  poli- 
tics, 723  f.;  problems,  703  ff.;  sci- 
ence, 10,  592,  57_6,_  679-728,  699, 
700;   workers,  training  of,  704  f. 

Social  mind:  relation  of,  to  doctrine, 
51  ff.;  Semitic,  54  f.;  Hellenistic, 
59  f.;  imperialistic,  64  f.;  feudal, 
67;  nationalistic,  68;  revolution- 
ary, 69  f.;  modern,  71. 

Socialism,  724  f.;   Christian,  473. 

Socinianism,  415. 

Spirituality  in  modern  religion,  435. 

Sunday  school,  644,  656  f. 

Supernatural,  problem  of,  458  f., 
523f.,  55iff.,  543- 

Synoptic:  gospels,  189;  problem, 
189  ff. 

Systematic  theology,  485-561;  rela- 
tion   of,  to    the    Old    Testament, 


148  f.;     relation   of,   to   the   New 
Testament,  232  f.;    task  of,  485  ff- 

Targums,  98. 

TertuUian,  316. 

Textual  criticism,  23  f.,  204  f.,  208; 
of  the  Old  Testament,  89  ff.;  of  the 
New  Testament,  204  ff. 

Theological  -education,  organization 
of,  V,  vi,  4. 

Theology:  relation  of,  to  religion, 
46  ff.,  51;  relationof,  to  politics,  47, 
50;  relation  of,  to  philosophy,  48, 
72;  relation  of,  to  experience,  493, 
499  ff.,  508  ff.,  524  f.,  533;  con- 
structive task  of,  75  f.,  485  ff.; 
mediaeval,  348  ff. 

See    also     Doctrine;      Systematic 
Theology. 

Thessalonians,  Epistles  to,  185. 

Tribal  religion,  40. 

Trinity,  doctrine  of,  63  f.,  513. 

Ultramontanism,  440. 
Unitarianism,  70. 

Versions:    of  the  Old  Testament,  87, 
94  ff.;  of  the  New  Testament,  206. 
Vulgate,  100. 

Wesleyanism,  71. 

Worship,  problem  of,  617,  672. 

Zwingli,  381  ff. 


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